The other day, while I was trudging through a forest on an eco field-trip and swatting away random bugs that nested on my skin albeit temporarily, with beads of perspiration rolling off my forehead (don't mind the slight exaggeration), I realized how similar life in general is to a rainforest. In this instance, our life starts off as seeds in this already populated world. Here, if we're lucky enough, we find nutrient filled ground to nestle in and grow. From birth, competition towers over us (representing the older canopy trees). We grow, nevertheless, with whatever nutrients we find around us (mostly given to us, in the seed cases, by our parents). When we're self-sufficient (upon growing our own leaves), we reduce our dependence on our parents and start to fend for ourselves. In countries like the USA, this would be synonymous to moving out of our parents' homes into our own apartments. And perhaps this would refer to being financially independent, in the context of Singapore.
Some of us, start off as parasites and live off others as climbers or parasitic plants for the rest of our lives, often inconveniencing the people we live off. This could be synonymous to people who prefer to get ahead of others by using them as stepping stones. Others practice friendly competition or compete with their inner selves to strive for the better and grow on their own accord with their own roots. Very often the former tend to forget where they come from, while the latter stays grounded and rooted in their values (pun intended) and stay true to their morales.
Whichever route a person (or a tree) adopts and treads upon, determines their fate in this world (or rainforest). Often, once we grow above or become more affluent than another, for instance, there is a tendency to look down on and steal resources from those who are still struggling (the seedlings). This happens among human beings, as much as it happens in nature. However, those who are able to maintain humility and perhaps in the context of the rainforest - develop leaves with gaps to allow some resouces to reach those below, can truly be considered as true human beings.
Eventually one's life nears an end and ends in various ways - catastrophically (being struck by lightning) or being martyred (being logged down for furniture or paper). Or one could grow to a ripe old age and allow generations to follow suit and eventually get gnawed away by termites, and leaving but their contributions to the rest of the world, in the form of their nutrients. This is the way life goes. From a seed to immense competition and eventually death. But will human beings ever break out of this cycle and find peace in simply being who we are, or will be continually get stuck in this ecological cycle of life where we constanly strive to survive? Some food for thought. Cheers!
