I’m writing about lichen today. Yes, lichen. That ugly old stuff that grows on a rock. It’s like the forest was still painting the picture and just sort of left it there.
If you’re a rational creature (and I am), then you look at a bare rock and say “no way”. There’s no dirt, no food, no shade…just the cold, harsh indifference of the earth.
But lichen looks at that rock and says “this will do.”
Which is both inspiring, and slightly unsettling to me.
You see, lichen doesn’t have a five year plan. It doesn’t wait for the perfect time to show up…it just shows up. With its symbiotic nature, it puts down a little flag of life into the rock, and starts working slowly and patiently on becoming what it wants to be.
One millimeter at a time.
This is important to understand, because the rock doesn’t cheer you on. The rock doesn’t say “thank you” for believing in it. The rock just sits there, and says nothing. Rocks are notoriously unhelpful.
But still; lichen persists.
It doesn’t make much noise. It doesn’t give pep talks, or post inspirational quotes on tree trunks…it just hangs around through the years, through the sun and through the snow, and sometimes even for centuries.
Eventually, the rock changes. A little bit of soil forms, some moss gets an idea, and at long last entire forests grow where it once said “nothing can grow here”.
All because lichen didn’t agree with it.
When the world says “you can’t do it”, or “you shouldn’t do it”, or “it’s too complicated”…or when all of the statistics come crashing down on you like a wall of uncooperative rocks…
That’s when lichen comes to mind for me. Lichen doesn’t argue with the numbers, and doesn’t try to win; it just waits until the odds run out.
Which, I admit, is how I want to deal with things as well.
So, if you’re the only one who believes in your idea, if you’re standing on solid ground (rock), if you receive no applause, and no encouragement…then take heart:
Maybe you’re not wrong. Maybe you’re just a lichen.
And that is a problem for some.
