The nature of giving.
Wisdom Wednesday No. 3
In living systems, giving is not a virtue. It’s a process.
Fungi feed slugs. Fruit feeds animals. Flowers feed insects. In return, nutrients are spread, spores are released, seeds travel, pollen moves, life continues. Almost nothing exists only for its own benefit.
Some of these timelapses were “ruined” by slugs, but I still enjoy watching them. It makes the films feel more like part of nature, rather than something sterile, made in a cold studio.
The clips you see towards the end were all filmed in my own garden during the summer.
Wild cherry.
Nasturtium flowers.
Globe-thistle, visited by a peacock butterfly drinking nectar.
The nature of giving is not about sacrifice, it’s about participation. And it’s not only the system that benefits, the giver does too. A tree that never fruits leaves nothing behind. A flower that offers nothing, attracts no visitors.
Perhaps that’s true for us, too.
Not giving to get something back. Not giving for recognition.
But giving because it’s how we take part in the world.
#mycology #nature #giving #slowdown #fungi