OLD COTTONWOOD

I drive by this tree on my way to and from the library. This winter, I thought it was just another old cottonwood whose water source had dried up leaving it dead.

A month ago, as I drove by, a beam of sunshine illuminated the trunk, but I saw the green branches on the back side and I thought to myself, “that tree’s just like me -not dead yet!”

The more I reflected on this tree-being, the more metaphors it represented.

First, Perspective or Point of View. From one angle, it looks dead, yet from another angle, it looks like a tree in full life.

When I was young, I judged the issues as either being black or white, right or wrong, good or bad. As I have aged, I know that life really runs the spectrum of greys. There are so many different ways to see an issue or a person.

I shared my tree-ruminations with a friend, and it sparked more ideas from her.

She spoke of ‘life force’; like a flower growing from a crack in the concrete. The will to survive is very strong. For a child growing in difficult environment, she may not only survive but become creative as well.

When facing death, we may have previously instructed, ‘DNR – do not resuscitate’ yet, when the time comes, I have seen people struggling to stay alive.

This tree is also a metaphor for us as humans. Sometimes, we feel the fullness and are grateful for our life and other times we are worn down by its buffeting winds. We are both.

In relationships, what kind of a ‘front’ do we put on? How much do we show of our inner self?  How many sides do we let people see?

Is it a leap of faith to reveal our inner world? Is this what defines ‘trust’ and therefore the depth of friendships? How many people truly know who we are?

What us the risk of letting people in?

I could go on………. who knew an old cottonwood

would evoke so many questions?

Dear Reader, what ponderings did this stir in you?

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