Consider a tree
A tree has no mission statement.
It has not searched for its life purpose.
It is not trying to save the world.
A tree simply is a tree.
It can be nothing else.
Yet while the tree is being a tree,
it is saving the world. The tree
— cleans carbon dioxide out of the air and produces oxygen
— provides a home for insects, birds and sometimes mammals
— produces food
— shares its nutrients with other trees
— stabilises and enriches the soil.
The tree does all these things simply by existing as a tree.
It doesn’t matter where the tree grows. It will always be a tree and do tree things. The surrounding environment will affect the way the tree is a tree but the tree will always be a tree and do the things that trees do.
In the same way, grass is grass and does what grass does.
And birds are birds.
Bugs are bugs.
Bears are bears.
All of them, like trees, simply are themselves. By being what they are, all of them play their parts in the continuing existence of life on Earth.
You are also a living thing on Earth.
You have things that you do, normal
— eating,
— sleeping,
— procreating
things.
You also do other things. You have
— talents,
— hobbies,
— skills,
— areas of expertise.
You have things that you end up doing, no matter what your environment is.
The difference between you and a tree is that you have consciousness and choice. Having those two things means you need faith.
You need faith to believe
that when you do the things that make you truly you,
that when you are truly who you are,
then you will play your part in saving the world.
Here is a personal example.
I draw, write and design. It doesn’t matter what environment I’m in or what job I have; I always end up drawing, writing and designing things. It’s what happens when I am me.
For a lot of my life, I tried to figure out how to do IMPORTANT, SAVING-THE-WORLD THINGS instead. I behaved as if doing silly drawings was a waste of time.
That’s as ridiculous as a tree behaving as if growing leaves is a waste of time. I do silly drawings in the same way that a tree grows leaves. It is who I am.
The difference between me and a tree is that I have consciousness and choice. That means I need faith.
I used to think I needed faith
to find out what I was supposed to be doing,
to give up what I love doing in order to serve a GREATER DESTINY.
I don’t think that way anymore.
In my new way of thinking I need faith to believe
that when I draw silly drawings,
that when I am who I am,
then I will naturally play my part in saving the world.
This,
to me at least,
is counterintuitive,
yet it seems to be the way the world functions best,
so I’m going with it.
This meditation is the whole reason for TREE and the FFOREST. It is the founding document, the (I guess it’s kind of a) manifesto, the (un)mission statement, whatever. If it resonates with you, there’s more. You can get TREE in your inbox every weekday morning. Join the smart people growing slowly every day.
I do my best work off-the-clock, when I tackle the dystopian nightmare that looms on our screens with the simple joy of living and visions of life before appliances started telling us how to live it.
I am struggling with that faith all the time!