Leaving Home
Like a parachute, the seed of a dandelion sails across a meadow, leaving its flower-mother in search of emancipation.
A Monarch caterpillar emerges from the minuscule egg its mother carefully attached underneath a milkweed leaf. As a pupa, it will dream about flying away.
A baby opossum crawls up on its mother´s back, leaving her pouch. Hanging on tight, it slowly starts developing the idea of letting go.
A human mother patiently teaches her son to walk, preparing him to one day walk away from her.
Nature’s inventiveness for expanding, multiplying, and spreading its species takes countless different forms.
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To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleI love it, Christer, especially the last part. Different species in different forms and in a different way of expanding, multiplying, and spreading each species.
Thank you, Lotchie. I think that the older I get, the more intrigued I get over how nature works and that we humans have a lot more in common with other species, both animals and plants. The one big difference between us and the rest of creation is that we have the (mental) capacity to see the big picture and connect with our Eternal Origin.
Yes. That’s why we humans are considered the highest forms of animals.
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To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleVery thoughtful Christer, lots of reasons why we all fly the nest, courage has its own rewards too??
Courage is probably always involved in the process of detachment. Maybe even more so when there is an inner or outer force that wants us to stay where we are and hold on to the past. Courage is indeed needed when we decide to “jump before we see the safety net”. That takes real courage, although it’s often called stupidity or naivety.
I love that you’ve used such diversely different species in your story, Christer. The dandelion leaves its parent just with a puff of wind, needing no assistance from its parent at all. The butterfly will select a safe place to lay its egg, making sure it’s on the food plant for that species. The baby opossum develops more quickly than the human one, able to choose its own time for independence. Good… Read more »
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To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleThanks for your nice comment, Carrie! I recently read that all living species have developed from the same invisible bacteria, joining and pairing up to evolve, becoming specialized, stronger and bigger. We have DNA in common not only with mammals and fish, but with bananas and other plants too. When I look at a little insect, with their tiny eyes and legs, with the same needs to eat, breathe and mate as… Read more »
I love particularly the fourth paragraph. There’s so much sense in it. It’s also deep. A nice write up.
Thank you, Thompson Emate. Yes, the fourth paragraph is kind of fun to ponder. We love our babies, just like other species do, and help them to develop their faculties, not really considering that we are teaching them to break away from us.
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To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleChrister, this was one of those beautiful stories where I couldn’t wait to read the next line. I couldn’t help thinking when reading the line about the mother and son, that it is also very much in the human nature to rebel against the way nature intended for us to eventually stand on our own feet and grown children often refuse to leave the nest! This was a well-written, thought-provoking piece.
Thank you, Marianna. I’m glad you liked it. Your comment about children who refuse to leave the nest is interesting. Sometimes humans behave in ways that are unnatural, refusing to take the next step in normal development. To stay at home with the parents as an adult would be for a butterfly not to crawl out of the pupa. When I was working in Alaska one summer, I talked to a woman… Read more »
Christer, I also heard that bald eagles do this, but that they literally push them out of the nest? It seems harsh, but like you said, it is probably about them needing their hunting territory. Nature is very interesting!
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To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleI love the opening and how you chose to link your picture to it. You used the theme well by exploring many different ways of other creatures leaving home.
Thank you, Daisy. Yes, I was trying to illustrate one aspect of what we have in common with other species in nature. It’s fascinating, I think, to ponder that we have something in common not only with other mammals, but even with plants.