{"id":2126,"date":"2021-08-27T14:44:04","date_gmt":"2021-08-27T19:44:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/loveyoustrong.us\/?p=2126"},"modified":"2023-02-23T23:05:09","modified_gmt":"2023-02-24T04:05:09","slug":"pando-a-lesson-in-the-care-and-keeping-of-an-idea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/loveyoustrong.us\/index.php\/2021\/08\/27\/pando-a-lesson-in-the-care-and-keeping-of-an-idea\/","title":{"rendered":"Pando: A Lesson in the Care and Keeping of an Idea"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A Seed Takes Root<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

   About three years ago, I came across an article about the most massive living organism on Earth. It happens to be a colony of aspen trees on the shore of a lake in Utah, all connected by a massive underground parent root system. It has a name, Pando, which means \u201cI spread\u201d in Latin. It started from a single seed and expanded by sending out new shoots. It has spread across 106 acres and harbors trees over 130 years old. Forty thousand seemingly separate<\/em> trees that are actually one organism from one source. <\/em>Pando\u2019s life is inextricably connected to every tree in the colony. A metaphor for humanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  I love aspen trees. Walking into an aspen grove in autumn is magical. A fluttering, canopy of golden leaves set against a deep blue sky. The whisper of the leaves in the cool breeze. The iridescent glow of sunlight filtering though the leaves and branches, scattering upon the forest floor. The shapes of watchful eyes etched in black upon white trunks. For three years, I haven\u2019t been able to get Pando out of my mind. I wanted to describe it in a way that conveyed Pando\u2019s message of unity and cooperation at at time when humanity\u2019s lack of doing so threatens our relationships with each other and the very planet on which we depend for life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   Author, Liz Gilbert, has a theory about ideas. She believes they are energetic life forms that inhabit our planet, \u201ccompletely separate from us, but capable of interacting with us.\u201d She believes they have a consciousness and will to manifest themselves. They swirl around us and look for available and willing human partners. When an idea finds a person who might be able to birth it into the world – perhaps you – it will try to get your attention. It will not leave you alone, whispering in your ear, \u201cDo you want to work with me?\u201d If you think you aren\u2019t the right person, or it\u2019s not the right time, you politely decline, and the idea moves on to someone else because it wants to be realized. If you accept the idea\u2019s invitation, you have entered into a contract with it and must see it through. Your role is “to cooperate fully, humbly, and joyfully with inspiration\u201d to the utmost of your ability. If you don\u2019t follow through, the idea will eventually grow tired of waiting to be realized and leave to find another collaborator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  A Sapling Emerges<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

   <\/strong>This is how it has been with Pando and me. From the time I first read about it, I loved what it represented: That one of the oldest and most massive single living organisms on Earth got that way by cooperation, and that every single tree in that organism looked separate from the others, but was actually connected and born from the same source. When a tree in Pando isn\u2019t thriving, its fellow aspens send nutrients through the root system to help it. Nature is truly amazing and a mirror for us. It teaches us how to live if we just pay attention. In recent years, the health of Pando has been declining, and scientists, volunteers, and organizations have been working together to find out why and to try to restore it to its original splendor. This, too, is a mirror for humanity. We can band together and thrive, or face our demise. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0 In the three years since I first accepted my contract with this Pando idea, I have never left it, although I have had to put it aside for periods of time when life happened. I promised it I wasn\u2019t abandoning it. I asked it to stick around. I thought about it. I researched. I jotted down inspiration when it came. I wanted to put it into a story, the kind of universal story that both children and adults could share, but I wasn\u2019t sure how. Then one day, while I was journaling, some words came through my pen, \u201cWe are family. We are one.\u201d What flowed through after that were ideas and phrases that felt like something was taking shape. My reward for not abandoning the idea. I said, \u201cThank you for giving this to me.\u201d Then life happened again, and the words sat in that journal for another year. But I held the idea in my heart. I spoke to it. Then this week, I opened my journal, and the words were still there, waiting for me. As I revisited them, it became clear: They wanted to be a poem. I wrote that poem in one evening, and to me, it ended up sounding like that universal story I wanted to share with everyone. I am sharing it here for the first time, and I am hopeful that this Pando idea will help me find a way to spread it into the world, just like its name implies. To learn more, and sign up for my monthly newsletter and blog, visit pandounlimited.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
In the Pando Sun  <\/strong>\n\nDrifting on an autumn breeze\nare golden leaves of aspen trees,\ndancing, twisting, floating down,\ncarpeting the forest ground.\n\nIn the quiet you can hear \na gentle whisper in your ear,\nfluttering in the Pando sun,\n\u201cWe are family. We are one.\u201d\n\nSunlight streaming, crisp and cold,\nthrough a roof of glistening gold,\nshimmering in the Pando sun,\n\u201cWe are family. We are one.\u201d\n\nAnd intertwining underneath\nfor miles and miles beneath your feet,\nis a secret, hidden treasure trove.\nThe trees have eyes. They see and know.\n\nThere\u2019s magic in this Pando grove.<\/em>\n\nAs far as every eye can see,\nthe members of a family,\nspreading in the Pando sun, \nfor miles and miles\u2026of many\u2026one. \n\nFor from a solitary root,\neach tree was born and joined by shoots,\nconnected in the earth as one,\nfar beneath the Pando sun.\n\nThrough their roots they hear the call,\n\u201cGive nourishment to one and all,\u201d\nand answering, they help each other.\nAll related, all are brothers.\n\nSharing so they each can thrive.\nIt takes all ages to survive.\nGrowing in the Pando sun,\n\u201cWe are family. We are one.\u201d\n\nSo holds this great community\nof seeming individuality,\na mirror for humanity:\nAs Pando goes, so go we.\n\nI help you, and you help me.\nThe small, the tall, the strong, the weak,\njoining in the Pando sun,\n\u201cWe are family. We are one.\u201d\n\nLiving under one big sky,\ncollective heart, the gift of life,\nshining in the Pando sun,\n\u201cWe are family. We are one.\u201d\n\n\u00a9Cindye Sablatura 2021\n<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
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\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Three years ago, a grove of aspen trees inspired me and taught me a valuable lesson about the care and keeping of a creative idea.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":2144,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[287,288,110,286,225],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/loveyoustrong.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/87740466-8E00-498D-B028-0BEF9768FD26-e1630012505524.png","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/loveyoustrong.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2126"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/loveyoustrong.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/loveyoustrong.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loveyoustrong.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loveyoustrong.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2126"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/loveyoustrong.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2126\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2255,"href":"https:\/\/loveyoustrong.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2126\/revisions\/2255"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loveyoustrong.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/loveyoustrong.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loveyoustrong.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loveyoustrong.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}