We Grow to the Light Like Plants Do
by Michael Feeley
It’s a lovely and powerful thing the way plants grow towards the sunlight. It’s also scientific how they stretch for health, to be all they can be. It’s metaphorical of how we are as human beings.
Plants grow towards the sun because of phototropism. They have light-sensitive proteins that detect the direction of light and trigger the release of a growth hormone called auxin on the darker side of the plant. This hormone causes cells on the shaded side to grow faster, resulting in the stretching and bending motion that you see as the plant curves toward the light.
This behavior is crucial for survival because sunlight is their primary energy source for photosynthesis, so by growing toward the brightest light available, they maximize their ability to capture the energy they need to thrive.
We are this way too. Seeking the light, reaching to learn and flourish, even in challenging situations. It’s natural resilience.
Just like plants instinctively stretch toward sunlight for energy and growth, humans naturally gravitate toward the things that nourish and energize us—whether that’s knowledge, relationships, opportunities, or our passions.
We tend to “bend” our lives in the direction of what feeds our souls and helps us flourish. Just as a plant will continually reorient itself toward a new light source, we adapt and redirect our focus when we discover new sources of inspiration or purpose.
Unlike plants that follow one sun, we can choose our light sources, making our growth more complex, more intentional, and more gratifying.
The poet Rumi describes it this way:
“Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray. In the silence, there is a sacred mystery, a path that shows the way not with words but with the heart’s yearning.”
It’s not forced or overthought. It’s as natural and essential as a plant reaching for the sun. It’s also scientific. There are facts to our choices.
Thanks – Michael Feeley (he, him)
Please share this Daily.
This is also interesting – Sagebbatical.
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