One Tree

Have you ever stopped for a moment to take in the beauty of a single tree?

I was on a walk when I looked upward and noticed the blue clarity of the sky and how the singular tree in my view stood out against that infinite backdrop. Early on in my development, I was somehow blessed with this love of the tree. I love the forest, but only as I am allowed to care for its trees one by one. Why this is do I don’t know. It just is.

The forest is singular when viewed as an aggregation and plural when seen as a collection of individual trees. To admire the beauty of the forest is a worthwhile meditation. The scope of a singular appreciation requires distance; and the distance is either literal or figuratively from afar as one fails to focus on an individual member of the forest.

Blinded by the canopy of the forest, we miss the privilege of being aware of the tree. To say we love a collective of humans may be honest affection, but realize this brand of love is limited if it has not been allowed to flow through one person at a time.

From one, and then to another, your love as a leader does its work. The collective forest of which you are a part yields the breath of life for all. Each individual receives the proper supply of nutrients to be a productive member of the forest thanks to your unique brand of leadership love.