As changes in our modern world grow more extreme and dramatic, resilience has become a hot topic. This past Fall, I was on a planning team for a women’s retreat that made resilience their theme. We dove into creating a tool kit for personal, relational, and community resilience and discussed everything from sleep hygiene and earthquake preparedness to communicating gratitude and love. It was a rich arena for growth and intention.

When I searched my blog archives, I came across this essay about weathering a summer storm at the 19th Century living history museum where I worked, Old World Wisconsin. You can read that entry – “We Amid the Flood” – HERE.

Resilience in nature seems to be all about the interdependent web of life. Ecosystems like forests and coral reefs are complex and dynamic places of shared resources and symbiotic relationships. Humans have barely begun to understand the processes that sustain life through time and change in these arenas. Perhaps we have greater understanding of personal and societal resilience, which is why our species is dominating the planet. However, that domination could create the collapse of the very planetary systems that sustain us.

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” ~ African proverb

In the Dunn Forest along Soap Creek, old growth trees benefit from mycorrhizal networks underground and sustain ferns, mosses and lichens above ground. They provide habitat and food for a host of creatures. They bend and stretch towards the sun in order to produce food from its energy. When limbs break and fall to the ground, they are turned into rich soil for the continued growth of new trees. They are a wonderous and appropriate illustration of RESILIENCE.

Special thanks to Anne Sandler for hosting this week’s Challenge.