Queen Wilkes, a former Green Works’ student and now board member, was invited to share her perspective on resiliency with the graduates of our Excelerate program. It was a beautiful discussion, so we asked her to share it in a blog post. Enjoy!
What is the Resiliency of Nature?
Resiliency has been commonly defined as an ability to recover from adversity or change, but I just like to call it the “bounce-back” effect. In my personal experiences of enacting the bounce-back effect in my life, I have never seen it done as effectively or marvelously as by the official icons of nature; trees.
In What Way are Trees Resilient?
Trees are known for their ability to provide shelter and sustenance for many living things. They are one of the planet’s most abundant life forms. Trees are an example of the pure resiliency of nature and thus, the nature of resiliency. Trees can weather harsh winds and high tides because of three things: roots, trunk, and branches.
The Roots
Trees are deep rooting plants that establish intricate and strong roots that hold them in place in times of adversity. Like a tree, we should think of ourselves as having roots and those roots are our values. What are some ethics that are core to your being? What feelings, ideals, or principles are most important to you? Whether it’s family and love, or individuality and freedom, clear values or roots help us make firm decisions in times of crisis because we can be sure of what is most important to us.
The Trunk
Moving up in our “tree metaphor” is the trunk. The trunk is quite literally how a tree stands up in life, it is how the tree presents itself and what everyone sees the tree to be. How are you showing up in life? Are you taking the time to take care of yourself by drinking enough water, exercising, and getting enough sleep? Are you doing things that nurture your soul and help you build mental and emotional well-being? How are you actively investing your values or roots into a more stable and sound body or trunk?
The Branches
Lastly, are the branches. Unlike the firmness and stability of the roots and trunk, branches are flexible and allow the tree to more easily bend when strong winds come through. Resiliency is more than just steadiness and stability, it’s also adaptation and compromise. Your branches should be your support system.
Who are the people and things around you that provide you feedback and give you different perspectives to view challenges? Who are closest to you in times of compromise? Like the branches of a tree, your support system will change throughout your life. Like people in your life, some branches will break off in times of a storm.
Having a few strong connections or branches that you can nurture, and build allows you to have a more reliable support system. The stronger the branches of a tree, the easier it is to shelter the tree and secure it in place. The stronger your support system, the easier it is to take care of yourself.
What You Can Do to Help
There is an inherent resiliency and strength in nature and the world around us. It’s one of the reasons many scientists are sure that, despite the current climate crisis and inevitable change, our planet will endure.
I believe if you adopt these truths that can be seen in the resiliency of nature, you will undoubtedly remain standing too.
