Today, I was in DC. I took the time to walk around for a few hours as a part of an interfaith movement called a Unity Walk, an event run by the Interfaith Council of Metropolitan Washington (IFCMW). I haven't spent so much time in such a diverse place since I was a child - it was a wonderful learning experience. Looking around, I saw so many people of so many faiths.
One speaker that stood out to me was a leader in a Sikh community who was running an environmental program that plants forests. He said that by growing many different species of forests in a very small area, they would crowd together as they grew. Their root systems would become intertwined. I wondered how that could possibly work, it seemed so stuffy. There's no way trees could survive like that, right? But no - the trees would share nutrients. If one tree was lacking in a nutrient, the others could provide. They would compete for sun, thus growing much faster. When he finished explaining the project, he looked at us once more and said to us, "we need to grow a human forest."
Such a human forest would be a place where when one human, regardless of their background, was lacking in what they needed, the others would reach in to help. Such a human forest would be a place where when one young child sees another doing well, they learn what they can do to catch up. Such a human forest would be a place of healthy competition, of support, and of diversity.
One species of tree might need a lot of one nutrient, whereas another tree barely needs any of the same. The second species of tree could hand their surplus to the first because they don't need it. Why can humans not do the same?
That talk stood out to me because it seemed silly that it had not occurred before that such a prime example could exist in nature. But then, when does nature ever fail to show us the way? It has long since provided us the means to survive in balance, so why not with this, too?
Unity is balance. Unity is how one family can turn to another in times of need. Unity is how people mourn, unity is how people survive, unity is how people get by every day.
I wish that, one day, Unity Walks become more than a way for people to learn about cultures different than their own. I want people to go on Unity Walks to learn what they can do with that information. It was my first and I had not known they existed before it, but I don't think one simple walk has ever made me feel so powerful.
YOU ARE READING
Melting
General FictionA collection of short stories about love, loss, anxiety, and the roller coaster that is life while dealing with them. CONTENT WARNINGS: Strong language, potentially triggering content, LGBTQIA+ subjects Cover art credits to @MatthewsonGibs
