I just returned from a trip to Aspen, Colorado, drinking in the rich beauty of this alpine paradise for 5, sun-drenched days. Although I was tempted to spend each moment on celebrity watch or shopping for shoes and bags, my time was spent hiking, biking and exploring the vast canyons and trails of this outdoor playground. One of the more profound experiences worth sharing occurred during a bus ride up to the Maroon Bells. As we strained to see the venturis, rushing streams and granite peaks our driver told us an interesting story about the Aspen tree; the namesake of this mining town. Known for their white, papery bark and delicate oval shaped leaves, these tall, slender beauties grow in thick groves, so tightly packed they appear to have been planted and groomed by an unseen hand.
But here is the catch. They are not individual trees at all. In fact, although some trees come up from stray seeds, most are the product of the root system of one tree as it spreads across the soil, traveling with purpose and popping up over and over again to create related thickets along vast hillsides. This fact makes the Aspen tree one of the largest living organisms on the planet. Indeed many acres of Aspen trees are actually one, single, spectacular being.
As you may guess I was struck by the metaphor this glittering-leaved specimen illustrates. If applied to us as humans, and certainly women who gather to create change in the world and in each other, we discover that our root systems is truly shared and we are not here alone. We find that to flourish we can and must rely on each other for life, for nourishment and for protection.
Join us each month and connect to this tree of life, the leaves of friendship and the roots of meaningful solutions.
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