Suffering and Stress

Photo: Leif Bersweden

This photo is a portrayal of distress.  It was taken by botanist Leif Bersweden, who said on Twitter, “If holly finds its leaves are being nibbled by deer, it switches genes on to make them spiky when they regrow.  So on taller holly trees, the upper leaves (which are out of reach) have smooth edges, while the lower leaves are prickly.”

This is a brilliant analogy for human response to our environment. When life is going well and we feel in harmony with the world, our leaves are smooth and elegant. When things go wrong, we get all twisted up and develop spiky points that keep others at a distance. Whether our reaction shows up as fear, uncertainty, despair, woolly-headedness, or intolerance, over-reaction etc, they are all damaging emotions.  Like the chewed holly, we are stressed.  The Holly flower essence is for such difficult emotions as spite, hatred, jealousy. But ‘difficult’ can also mean something that disturbs us and even keeps us awake at night; then other remedies may be more appropriate for our suffering and inability to find peace.

Taking the flower remedies can help us, metaphorically, make our leaves smooth and tranquil again.  The holly’s flat leaves mean it can take in more of the sun’s transformative light, in order to fulfil its life purpose.  There’s a human equivalent for that too.