45. Among the Joshua Trees

#64Challenge

The next assignment for my creative writing classes is focused on an overarching theme of "change." They will read two poems and read the lyrics and listen to John Mayer's "Waiting on the World to Change," and then decide on their theme and format and write.  I always offer a model of my own. This is what I wrote for them -- and for me, and anyone who cares to listen.

Among the Joshua Trees: A Lesson in Slow Change

In 1990 I visited Joshua Tree National Forest when I was in California. I didn’t know until I arrived what a Joshua Tree was. The photo above was taken when we first entered the park, and I got so excited seeing these unusual trees: spiky, slow-growing, with branches that rise up. The tree was named by the Mormons who thought of the tree as Joshua from the Bible reaching his hands to the sky. The Joshua Tree lives in arid conditions and depends on perfectly timed rains to keep it flowering and growing. They are not in a hurry, and grow for a very long time – up to 300 years. They live amid other desert flora and jumbo boulders of red stone.

Now this is 2020, and I find myself living in an arid time. I am without my classroom, without the ability to have natural connections to my students, filling my days looking at the computer. This is as dry as it comes for a teacher.

So I turn to the Joshua Tree. I am reminded of the hope and strength it symbolizes. Its changes are slow. It is not in a hurry.

Most of us are feeling like we’d like an end date to this pandemic. We want to return to our gatherings and classrooms and be able to buy groceries without fear.

But here in the desert of life today, there is no time frame. There is no end date. There is only the will to survive in tough conditions, to see it through, one small change at a time, until the future becomes the present.

In Florida we are used to our swamps and rains. We are used to things growing quickly, green and glorious.

But today we are in the forest of Joshua Trees – spiky, slow moving, and raising our hopes to the sky.

It is an uncomfortable place.

It is a place of grief.

In the hardest times of my life, I have looked to a symbol to help me through. Today I turn to the Joshua Tree. It is the symbol of Endurance because it grows without sufficient water. It is the symbol of Strength because it overcomes unfavorable conditions, and has the power to make progress against all odds. And finally, it is a symbol of New Beginnings. It has the ability to produce leaves, flowers, and fruits.

The Joshua Tree is a concrete image for me, one to remind me I need to look to my own life and see what I can produce in this dry time, this quarantined life.

It has been stated more than once that we will come out of this time as different people. I think that could be true. But only if we endure, find strength, and see this as a way to a new beginning.

I am keeping the spirit of the Joshua Tree inside of me, as I face times of disappointment, resentfulness, and worry. When those feelings arise, I will see it as a chance to change my vision. Turn to endurance. Turn to strength. Turn to a new way of seeing things. The gifts given by the Joshua Tree.

The fruits and flowers will be realized one moment, one turn of a thought at a time.  I vow to do this for myself. I vow to do this for others.

With the Joshua Tree by my side, I believe I can make it out of the desert, into a new future yet to be imagined. This is the essence of slow change.

I will make it. We will make it. Together.