The Idea of Being Shade
For whatever reason, trees have been central in my personal reflections of late. It started in the winter, when at school, we were asked to prepare a "tree of life". Our tree of life had to depict the foundations, cornerstones, and happenings in our lives that went into making us, us. I drew mine out of a nurse log, which is a dead log out of which healthy trees grow. The nurse log depicted my violent, abusive past, while the tree that grew out of it had strong roots of faith, hope, love, community, forgiveness, family, resilience, all nourishing a tree that bore the fruits of connectedness, destiny, vision and purpose. Then, in residency, we were asked to take a moment and envision where we saw ourselves a year hence, and draw it. All I got was a tree - a huge, solid, tall, oak tree sitting in the middle of the desert, providing shade to anyone who wanted it. So I drew it and began to ponder the idea of being shade. Here's what came to mind... First, shad