The Trees of Life

The Tree of Life is a concept shared amongst cultures and religions, symbolizing various ideas, including the basis of our existence, the afterlife, and ancestral roots. In the creative world, it is important to remember how similar we are to trees overall.

I remember seeing an artist make a comment about the industry and how it is very exciting to compete with their peers. I can definitely understand the thrill of it all and wanting to be the best at something, which is very much natural, especially when you feel confident in what you’re creating. Although I love the artist that spoke on this, I think their take definitely separates mainstream artistry from those that are creating for the love of it. Art is not limited to people that are talented, so of course everyone is welcome to take part, but it does disturb me when I see creators looking past the idea of community.

My love and appreciation for the “underground” scene goes beyond any type of explanation I can attempt to verbally formulate. After consuming mainstream media for so long and then shifting your focus to smaller artists, you can clearly see and feel the difference in authenticity.

In every time period leading up to now, community has influenced art in every way possible. Most of the time, the reason it was able to reach so many people was because of community, mainly through word of mouth and the spread of media. We actually had to talk to one another to discuss and create art. As we have social media in today’s world, I personally would expect it to be much easier to build community, but in mainstream artistry, it seems to be more of going against each other as competition than anything else.

People need community. No matter how much better they think they operate alone, how much they only think about themselves, everyone needs community.

Trees have to work with one another to reproduce. They let the wind carry their pollen to other trees, eventually creating the seeds needed to repopulate. These seeds use the different elements in their environment to begin their growing process, which varies between each tree.

People are like trees. We use one another to grow, as our company creates woods and forests that occupy the land. But its rare you’ll see a tree alone without seeing another one in a close radius. And even if they are standing alone, they’re not alone because they have their own network with other trees below the ground. For us, these networks represent our support system that aren’t always front and center, but are always there behind the scenes.

These networks help trees share nutrients essential to their growth and maintenance. No matter how far apart they are from one another, as long as that connection remains they are able to assist whoever needs it. Those that are close to other trees above the surface have an advantage. We are able to see them leaning on each other for support. Twigs intertwining, leaves joining colors, becoming homes to different wildlife.

Their unison create bigger purposes. As do ours.

Community is the most impactful theme of art, creativity, and expression. We get our inspiration and ideas from one another and the experiences we undergo collectively. We provide resources, offer assistance, and promote each other’s creations to bring more life into it. Community forces art to thrive and reach new heights, new emotions.

People all have their individual experiences, but that does not mean we are here to do everything alone. We need each other to create a world suitable to live in, for our children to live in and the generations afterward. We are apart of an economy that thrives off of watching us compete with one other. The world of art which was curated for the purpose of communication and expression should not always entail going against one another.

There are several thousands of different species of trees. They have their own characteristics and purposes in our ecosystem, but coexist in the same areas regardless of the species. They give us life, they create paths, they give us shelter. They are all very beautiful with plenty colors, patterns, and textures. Trees have their own needs and growth rates, yet they go through the same journeys. Humans, creatives specifically, should think about their own journey and reflect on how similar we are to trees, the trees that give us life. We need our forests to survive, thrive, and strive.

-ida ☆