Mushrooms heal us, provide sustenance, and, since the beginning of humanity, they’ve literally broadened our minds.
They come from, and are connected to each other by way of, mycelium. Intriguingly, thanks to mycelium, we actually share more DNA with mushrooms than plants. This network of tiny threads of connections is essentially their life force. It might be a stretch, but I think the same can be said for our words and our friends. We’re all only here for so long, and our words and relationships make us who we are and extend out beyond us.
Interestingly, mushrooms tend to grow on the edges of what we know. It is for this reason many scientists hypothesize that magic mushrooms were integral in helping Homo erectus evolve into Homo sapiens (check out “Fantastic Fungi”). I think the same can be said for the connections we forge with one another. The moments that bring us together are often when we have pushed ourselves out of our comfort zones. Those moments feel a little less alone when you suddenly find relief and inspiration in life outside of yourself.
I feel friendship and writing have been just that for me [sources of relief and inspiration], and it is no surprise that they go hand in hand. There is no way I’d be capable of truly expressing and experiencing love without people to give it to, and the use of written words to explore what that love truly means. It’s in the devotion to others and the commitment to translating it all onto pages that I’ve charted my own journey. Furthermore, as we navigate systems and organizations that were never built for people that look like us, one’s cup of inspiration can run dry all too quickly. It’s for that reason that I write my dreams down, and cherish people that make me feel like I’ve set my sights too low. There is no greater encouragement!
Who are you, if your words and the people you care for don’t connect? What stories do you have without loved ones to experience them with?
As this summer creeps in and warms us, it can be easy to lose sight of those people and words that comforted us throughout wintertime. Admittedly, I am thinking specifically of my own friends and my writing. As my greatest affirmations over the past few months, they feel a bit like the mycelium that keeps me on my two feet. They’ve served as reassurance when self-doubt crept in, and showed me, time and time again, that I must be doing something right in this life. I push you all to think of who those people are for you. Are you doing the same for them and others?
Of course, there have been friends lost, times when I didn’t know what we were, and those I’ve had to separate myself from. To that same end, sadly, some sentences don’t ring true like they used to, and there are some words I’m still holding out hope for. Howbeit, we love again and we write once more. Ideally, we can grow from the mistakes that previously set us back. Likewise, even mushrooms that have run their course don’t give up easily either. Thanks to their spores, which can travel tens of centimeters into the air, mushrooms are constantly creating new life, and extensions of themselves take shape in unforeseen groves and higher mountaintops.
I’m thankful to love and be loved, and to be pushed in the way that love has challenged me. In the purest sense, I think I have always sought out unconditional warmth, and I try to give that to others to the best of my ability. It can be scary though, to learn what it means to love, and be so vulnerable. The hard part is there is no guide for any of this. There is no roadmap to even finding your people, let alone how to love them the way they deserve. In reality, we all aim for something perfect. It will never be perfect though, and I’m not convinced “perfect” even exists. The best we can do is lean into love and listen to what we’re called to do. You see, there are plenty of mushrooms out in the world, and even the most unconventional ones are still worthy of appreciation. More deeply, the mycelium, the thing that connects us all, is the very same.
I look at these photos, and that is what I will forever be reminded of. I know so little of what the future holds, and even though there are struggles I am still fighting, I am not letting the noise distract me. Like little mushroom spores, I know the wind will carry us far; these words and our connections, in some capacity, will remain. Somehow, the pain and challenges shrink away and it’s always the love that comes to the surface again.
That’s all I can hope for.