Tiny green buds are peeking through the branches, timidly sticking their faces out in the clean spring air, while trees nearby them are blooming with color and shape. At the sight of this, students start running to a tree, any tree, to hang hammocks and lay suspended between the two trunks, basking in the warmth of the sun and the promise of growth. I travel down from my college on the hill and head home to discover a continuation of blooming. Trees are at different stages of growth, some with green on each branch and others still looking bare and scraggled against the blue sky. But I sit here and breathe it all in because everywhere, everything is growing. When I came home today, I set the alarms off as I attempted to disarm the updated security system in my house. I just now look up to see my dog hesitantly climb on his new bed and carefully make a nest for himself. Our world is characterized by moments of uncertainty and discomfort, but that is how we grow and learn. These past couple weeks on campus there has been a lot of pain, a lot of discomfort, and a lot of sadness. People's identities have been threatened and characterized by fear. The events on campus certainly do not compare to any day to day discomfort I may experience. Through all of this, I have wondered how me and the rest of the St. Olaf student body can help make this world a better place for people of color. And I have realized that sometimes, you have to make yourself vulnerable and make mistakes. It is the only thing that will help us grow. After all, trees make themselves vulnerable all the time. They stand firmly through the cold, frozen winters. They stand long enough to be touched by the sun's warm glow, and then bloom into a flurry of color and texture. And so why can’t we bloom, too? I would like to say that this post is inspired by friend Maren, and her blog, Dear Crohn's. She has taught me to find inspiration and comfort in the nature around us, and I hope this can bring comfort to other people as well.
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