When your mind is a plantation that becomes a forest

Every now and then, the owners of a plantation stop maintaining it. Maybe they go out of business and no one takes over. Maybe the government buys it off them to turn it into a forest.

Then again, maybe the owner wants to return the land to nature.

The plantation is a monoculture, all lined up in rows and columns.

Ordered and efficient.

But as soon as human hands stop interfering…

Everything dies.

Pests – insects, fungi or both – ravage the trees. Because they are all the same species, they all have the same vulnerability. It doesn’t take long to turn the plantation into a graveyard.

This seems like the opposite of what you intended. The temptation might be to stop here, clear the land and start again.

But no – this is part of the natural order.

Because these dead trees provide shelter and nutrients for the next generation.

Those pests attract their predators – birds and small mammals – who bring all sorts of seeds and nuts with them.

Instead of a monoculture, you have a community.

Instead of a uniform grid, you have the chaos of a forest.

To get where you wanted required a little unpleasantness first.

Surely there’s no metaphor for personal growth in there, right?

Well, perhaps.

So if ever it seems tough, remember – for something better to grow, something old has to fall away – maybe even die. And from that death something better emerges.

The only mistake is stopping.

Or never starting.

So get started here:

https://guided-thought.com/awakened-thought/