This big beautiful cluster of trees all intertwined and grown together is what I call a "familiar friend" on the Kachin trail at Brighton Rec. These "friends" are my mile markers. They are there year after year, season after season, I smile and greet them as I pass. This particular "friend" reminds me of the book The Hidden Life Of Trees by Peter Wohlleben. It talks about how trees communicate with each other, support each other, and form intricate communities. If one falls sick the others will pass extra nutrients through their roots. Solitary trees and new plantings don't have this support system and are more prone to disease, and more likely to succumb to it without the support from their fellow trees.
This tree makes me think of my own support systems and how enormously fortunate I am to have so many supportive communities in my life. Extended family, choir friends, crafting and science fiction fan friends, running friends, cancer support community friends. They have all been a part of my struggle. This big enormous tree of lovely people who's well wishes and assistance kept me taking that next step I needed to survive. Thoughts of good times with family or on the trails with friends, helped me through some of the most painful and scary procedures I have ever had to go through. Music from choir kept me company through long dark and painful nights in the hospital, and lifts my spirits during those times I wonder why I keep fighting. Meal trains, assistance with housework, and yard work and all the little things you don't think about until you can't do them.
I think of all of this and how important community is to survival. I think about those in my Cancer support community...me included who have said we "don't want to bother anyone". I find myself afraid that I am talking too much about myself or to break down crying with my own fears. We don't want others to feel burdened or that we are being too needy. My heart breaks that this culture of "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" and having to do everything on your own so you aren't a burden to others, has us turning away from the support that is necessary for survival. If you were drowning in a pond would you try to call for help? Or would you just let yourself sink so you weren't a "burden" to others.
Looking at the tree friend I see 8 or 9 entwining supportive trunks coming together at the roots. I would not wish cancer or any other catastrophe on anyone. But these life events show how important it is to come together at the roots. In a world of divisiveness and loneliness, it is our community that keeps us strong.
May you walk in the sunshine, have the breeze tickle your face, and live, laugh and love another day.
