fytology of Spring
As spring slowly flows through our coastal region of northern New Brunswick, the leaves and flowers start to bloom. The birds are singing their mating songs. Geese nestle their eggs, then suddenly, life starts to emerge from all angles of the natural world.
Within the plants themselves, life is already stirring, but more sunlight and heat starts to activate the plant into more action. Different biological cycles start the chemical and hormonal events necessary for the plants to grow, thrive, adapt and reproduce. Each plant is different as each of us is different. Their phenotype is the expression of their inherent traits in response to the environment. The weather, predators, nutrients and anything else that can affect how these plants survive or thrive.
A plant is a part of the natural world, just as we are. We also need sunlight, air, nutrients and a healthy environment to thrive. Though we are different organisms both dependent on the environment, we also have an interdependent relationship. For example, plants produce oxygen which we need to breath and we breath out carbon dioxide that plants need to survive.
I know this is all elementary, but we forget in this modern world, just how interdependent we are. We forget that we are part of this environment. We like to think that if we are part of the ecosystem, we at least have to be a keystone player, on top of the predator pyramid.
Perhaps from one perspective this is true. That the actions of humans have much more significant impact than any other organism. But let’s zoom out of our existence for a second. Out of our physical body to the sky and then out further into the atmosphere looking down at Earth. Then even further to the Milky Way and even further out…. we become nothing more than an idea or memory. Our thoughts and beliefs are just ideas. And yet, the irony of it all is that even though we are infinitesimally insignificant in the grand scheme of life itself, it is what we are and all we have. And yet, we are connected to source, a part of nature and life itself. We have and are all that which we can imagine.
If we are able to adjust our perspective of our place in life, of being infinitesimal to being divine source, I believe we would have the key to a beautiful healthy existence. The study of plants and observation of nature is meditative in this sense for me. As I write these blog posts, I hope that you will not just learn about medicinal herbs and the nutritional benefits of different plants, but also get a sense of this interconnectedness to life we are all a part of. In spirit and love, the divine.
