How to Be a Tree: Notes on the Resilience of Letting Go

Maria Popova writes in The Marginalian that trees serve as vivid teachers of resilience, offering us a polished lens on the attention we give the world. She describes how chlorophyll captures red light to power growth, while phytochromes act as on‑off switches that tell a tree to spread its branches into open sky or grow straight up in crowded shade. As autumn arrives, the breakdown of chlorophyll reveals yellows, oranges and reds, and leaves detach in a process called abscission, revealing the hidden buds that will sprout in spring. Popova suggests that, like trees, we might learn to let go and trust the seasonal rhythm of change.

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