one thousand words daily
The oak
tree is known to be one of the strongest of trees. The wood, often made and crafted into the
most intricate shapes as well as furniture pieces has a place in history as well as
purpose beyond what people can put in their house to hold dining ware and
clothes, or bed to sleep on. The oak,
takes a beating, often being split by lightning bolts or succumbed to a wildfire. If it survives the flames it keeps growing strong. Some oaks encompass their whole
environment, for example, if a boulder were next to the tree, some oaks will
grow around the rock, eventually possibly splitting the boulder in pieces. We by nature and by design are like many
things in our natural environment.
The reason
I chose this picture is simply because to me, the oak represents strength and
inner wisdom. We possess different types
of strength when the time calls for it.
Inherently we position ourselves in certain places, amongst certain
people and plan according to our wants and needs when it comes to where we work
and what type of work we do. All of this
we do whether carefully planned or automatically by instinct for our very
survival. I was at a church feeding,
thinking that “When I’m financially able, I’ll come here on Sundays and BBQ for
the whole community, not just for the homeless that know about this, and the
food will be top quality,” I tell myself.
Oak trees that we often see as well as take for granted in this gorgeous
state of California were oftentimes planted by Native American people to help
sustain them, since the acorn after conditioning, was one of the main food
sources for them.
What or who represents strength to you? Do you know that there are different types of
strength not commonly thought about or taken into accord? Emotional strength is one type of strength,
although very powerful, has a different level as well as measurement for each individual. For instance, we can in no way expect two
different people, no matter the environment they were raised in, to react the
same when faced with difficulties such as heart aches and loss of a close
person. Some perceive themselves as the
strong oak while others would never assume, hoping to be as strong as, or even
stronger than another individual they might know.
through the
eyes of a child, eyes of the wild or eyes from the wise:
I have
heard time and time again “Damn, she sure must be strong to deal with that,” no
matter what the circumstance was. By acknowledging
our weakness, and thus trying to achieve a better ground on how we handle
situations, people and even the physical around us, we have a chance to find a
way to build a stronger mind, better approach or even stronger muscles. Being resilient doesn’t necessarily mean “How
strong I am to deal with the circumstance,” but more of “How do I deal with the
circumstances which I have been given.”
The word Perspective comes to mind as in the way we choose to look at
the situation, incident, circumstance or whatever, the better we seem to handle
it.
Being realistic about who you are, what you can put up with and what exactly it is you are facing is one way to approach finding out how resilient and yes, strong you can be at a time of extreme trouble, consequence or need. I have titanium rods in both legs but dealing with the pain and having the stubbornness trying to walk no matter what doesn’t even touch upon the strength needed to push ahead in my daily life, just to function and survive. Being strong, in any capacity, for self, for preservation, for the future, and for others takes one key value we oftentimes struggle with. This value is known as Courage. While some are just that way, courageous, it often takes some spark of interest and wanting to either change a situation or prevent one from happening when “Courage,” shows it’s shiny face.
the subject
rarely addressed or talked about:
To
properly talk about Strength, Resilience, Courage and stuff I feel as if we
need to dive into the murky waters of the opposite, the substance that also
sticks to the ribs just as these values, which is the substance of Fear. Fears, for some reason other than exposing
weakness and fault are rarely openly talked about. This “Fear,” is treated as a value by some as
in a means to control others, a situation, or as in a fuel to perpetuate false
truths and cause dissent and negativity towards individuals or amongst large
groups of people. By focusing on fear,
the individuals involved might have a difficult time knowing or learning how to
cope with, change the circumstance of, or get over that particular type of fear. What do we do when those close to us, around
us, even our own communities or society in general is all wrapped up in many
stagnating types of fear? How do we stay
positive with what we believe and know, in order to move ahead towards the
better? What if we live in a house where
Dad and Mom won’t let me do anything, or always has some negative opinion due
to their own personal fears?
We can
find ourselves blindly directed towards a fear-driven perspective or opinion
based on what we are allowed to see and told to think. Even within our tightly knit neighborhoods
with individual families there can be fears circulating which everyone hears
through one message or many. Let us take
on Justice, Equality and even the subject of Immigrants. I have heard lots of negative comments,
mostly that have to do with misconceptions, supremacy as in entitlement and White
supremacy as well as well well-placed, misleading propaganda which have led
some folks to believe that their way of life in our forever changing, adolescent
of a nation called the US. Of A. is threatened.
Are there any fears, preconceived notions or misconceptions that you
also admit were fed to you?
It is the most difficult times I am told that we find how strong we are, how resilient we can be. We notice the change within us and perhaps we attribute it to our strength, smarts, ability to “Get the fuck outta there,” before it came because you saw the signs coming, or resilience, faith or chance of luck which some call Fate. Being courageous and actively making moves to change things for ourselves, whether we think of what we’re doing or not, places us in a moral place of power and strength as a mover, a positive contributor to the world around you. So, so what if they don’t see or know how hard you’ve worked, tried, or have seen the change you have helped to bring about. Know that you are courageous beyond the beliefs of many and triumphant, able to do what hundreds in your footsteps before, have not been able to accomplish.
One more thing about the ancient oak. If you notice, the oak trees have very small leaves. Although the leaves are small, when bunched together, can provide a whole lot of shade as well as shelter from the falling rain. Oftentimes we neglect the "Big Tree With Little Leaves," in our lives since we are used to them being around. Perhaps we ourselves are used to being the overlooked Big Tree With Little Leaves," as a poem I once named years ago and understand as well as accept the patterns of injustice and judgment around you. We all fight in our own way I'm told however I also know that there are some, for whatever reason or excuse they use, will never fight, never have the courage to change anything except for their own dirty draws. I bid you Persistence, Purpose, Patience, Prosperity and Inner-Peace my friends and family.
If you like what you see here, support a brotha and consider
simply buying me a coffee with the link below.
I will be offering a few of my short stories as well as other works as a
gift eventually. Let me know what you’d like
as far as art, poetry or a free half an
hour consulting with me.
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/fANCrVK
Many thanks,
S.M. Black
