unique and also part of the whole

 

the ginkgo knows

our Western idea of individuality

can have me feel special,

isolated from the group as if on a separating pedestal,

I love the idea of being unique, my own master,

the only one to walk this path,

a "one" that excels and earns praise

for all that is different and impressive about me,

I shine brighter as those around me are duller,

what an absurd and wrong idea!

everyone is special,

with unique gifts and different paths to and with the Light,

what point is there to the loneliness of only one path?

for who we are deserves to be larger,

a part of wholes that call to us,

to reach toward what we call that of God in others,

the family draws us to be as one with it,

to treasure commonality while still holding to difference,

each individual strives to be true to its self

and craves also to be true to friends,

to appreciate how much easier and better it can be

to realize that all of us are on a journey,

that it can feel so much better if we're not alone,

finally research increasingly realizes that underneath our feet,

each plant is first on its own to find water and nutrients,

then part of the group,

so that each tree networks what it can to the whole,

all coordinated by webbing of mycelia  that we call fungus,

the ginkgo before me glories in what it is,

the ginkgo below me knows that it is but one voice,

and that it is part of a larger chorus

that strives to celebrate the individual, and the group, at the same time,

can we humans learn

how to be both unique and also transcend into wholeness.

by Henry H. Walker

May 12, ‘26