The tree in my patio

As the US election comes down to the wire, the two sides remain firmly against the other. There was a time when there were political ‘adversaries’, not political arch-enemies that make everyone spew venom. Which somehow made me think of the tree in our backyard. Go figure..

We moved into our flat 3 1/2 years ago, an older building, ground floor with a backyard. There was an outdoor patio in the back with a small brick enclosed garden, choked with overgrown plants, weeds and heliconia flowers, which we cleaned up.

3 1/2 years later, there is a verdant tree (of unknown variety) which has grown within the plants, having pushed around and through the brick wall. Its roots are now firmly embedded within the crevices of the bricks, impossible to break or move. It is probably 20 feet high, a trunk 5 inches in circumference, and gives sorely needed shade. It was not there when we moved in, and how it grew there I have no idea, and we have all marveled at this determined feat of nature.

This is the law which counts in life-and in business-and it is NOT “survival of the fittest”, or the unctuous “kill or be killed”, the blather of atavistic alpha-males..

It is, rather, the fundamental law of nature, that of cooperation.

Plants and animals share space, light, sustenance, and live next to each other so each can prosper and grow, not by defeating one’s neighbour in the competition for survival, that one must die so the other shall live.

The truth is that one can only feel human and healthy when you get past any such clichéd behaviour, and understand that rising above any sort of selfishness and distrust allows everyone to grow.

The working world is global, and we all need to cooperate with each other, giving them their space. You can do that by blocking out the light of someone next to you, but acknowledge that there is enough sunlight-and space- for everyone.

Survival, by the way, is not the goal. The goal-for humans, anyhow-is to live and work within a community-honestly, optimistically, and generously. We are programmed in such a way to feel better after helping others-that’s the way it is-or should be.

There are, by the way, now more heliconias and other plants sharing space in the garden with that audacious tree than before. Go figure..