trees

Do trees ever think about their purpose in life?

There’s something about watching a tree dance with the wind that makes me wonder if purpose requires consciousness at all.

Fundamentally, our purpose as humans isn’t so different from theirs. We’re here to survive and pass our genes forward. Every motivation we clothe in meaning traces back to that drive.

The oldest living tree has been alive for over 4,800 years. It provides oxygen, shelter, food because that’s what it’s born to do. When spring comes, it buds. When fall comes, it lets go. Day after day, year after year, the same cycle.

Does it ever get tired? Probably.

Does it stop? It has no choice.

Maybe we’ve made life harder by convincing ourselves that purpose is something we have to find rather than something we do. We’re just trees that learned to ask why.