Will We Learn Something from the Oldest Organism in the World?

There’s a reason trees are regarded as wise

Photo by Madi Taskett on Unsplash

I grew up, and still live, in the Pacific Northwest where trees are abundant. Because they’re everywhere — including 5,200 acre Forest Park located minutes from Portland’s city center — trees had a tendency to blend into the background of my life.

I always assumed nature is just nature — with no real difference between trees, ocean, desert, or mountain. But after moving away from the forests of the north, to be near the ocean in the south, I learned I was wrong.

We all connect to nature in different ways. I learned I connect to trees in a different way than I do with the ocean or desert. To me, trees and mountains feel like friends that listen when I talk. Whereas the desert and ocean are vast and full of secrets.

The more I learn about trees, the more my connection to them makes sense. Not only are they social, but if we pay attention to their teachings, we might just learn how to survive longer and better by working together.

Trees Communicate

Fungi link trees in an entire forest together which form a massive underground communication, and resource sharing, system between them. Sometimes dubbed as the wood-wide-web — isn’t that…