Reflect

In the 1990s, Dr. Suzanne Simard first began sharing scientific evidence of the ways that a tree is not a singular entity but is, instead, connected through a sophisticated underground network. With their deep roots, for example, the oldest, largest trees in a forest provide sugar to shaded seedlings. Paper birch and Douglas fir exchange carbon in a seasonal rotation of support. The scale of this interconnection is hard to fathom. As Simard explains, “One teaspoon of forest soil contains several miles of fungal filaments.”

The interdependence of trees is a powerful reminder that the same is true for us. We may think we’re self-sufficient, and some days we can feel quite alone. But the reality is that most of us live our lives in a state of complete dependence on one another. Food grown thousands of miles away arrives in our neighborhood grocery store. Hours of lab research by people we’ll never know results in the medicine we take each morning. Perhaps right now you’re sipping tea or coffee made from plants grown and harvested by people in a country far from your own.

But here’s the catch: We forget. And sometimes we don’t even want to admit our interdependence. Dr. Simard’s research, for example, received a lot of initial pushback. Trees that can communicate with each other? Impossible. But her work has now inspired a few decades of research about the many ways that trees are deeply interconnected and interdependent. And guess who is utterly dependent on these very trees for breathable air? That’s right: we are.

This week’s practices invite you to remember all the ways that we are connected to one another and to all of life.

Bonus Resource

Savor this 3-minute virtual choir made up of more than 17,000 people coming together across 129 countries to connect through music.