I was in Denver last weekend, celebrating my niece’s second birthday. While we were on a walk, my stepmom and my sister were discussing Aspen trees. I learned from their conversation that Aspen trees are communal organisms—they grow in pairs, groups, or groves to survive.
Upon hearing this, I said to my stepmom, “Could there be any better analogy for the human experience and our need for one another?”
I think not.
I’m not an arborist (which is why I didn’t know this fascinating tidbit about Aspens in the first place). Nor do I claim to be. However, what I learned is that Aspens have a rich underground system. Their roots are interconnected, and they share nutrients to help each other grow. They need each other to flourish and survive.
It’s the same for humans.
I always tell my early childhood development students, “We were born social—our brains are hardwired for social connection. Without plentiful human interaction, emotional connection, and social support, young children fail to thrive.”
It’s no different for adults.
Yet, many adults are currently failing to thrive due to loneliness.[i] They’re planted in solitary environments (for a variety of reasons) and are experiencing the side effects—depression, anxiety, heart disease, substance abuse, and domestic violence.[ii] The very opposite of flourishing.
This loneliness epidemic[iii] predates the COVID epidemic. COVID merely brought it to light and reinforced what we already knew—for humans, relationships are king. Like Aspens, we are communal organisms. We need connection to survive. We need to root ourselves with others to flourish. Then, like Aspens, we’ll be hardy, resilient, and capable of growing in all environments and in all seasons.[iv]
*This Aspen analogy is rife with application. I might delve into it more in future posts.
[i] Richard Weissbourd, Milena Batanova, Virginia Lovison, and Eric Torres. “Loneliness in America How the Pandemic Has Deepened an Epidemic of Loneliness and What We Can Do About It” https://mcc.gse.harvard.edu/reports/loneliness-in-america (2023, February)
[ii] Ibid.
[iii] Ibid.
[iv] Hannah Featherman. “Tree Profile: Aspen – So Much More Than A Tree.” https://www.nationalforests.org/blog/tree-profile-aspen-so-much-more-than-a-tree (2023, February)