Tuesday, September 27, 2011

How like a tree

Have you ever noticed how the veins and lines on a leaf look so much like the tree they come from?



Smaller and smaller veins, like smaller and smaller branches.  It makes me wonder. . .  How different can we truly be from all the other leaves on our family tree?  If my family tree is a maple, can all my efforts really turn me into an oak leaf?


Just wondering.


"Don't be afraid to go out on a limb. . . 
That's where the fruit is."
~ Anonymous


(I don't know what kind of tree this leaf came from. :0)  It just caught my eye this morning while I was walking the dog.  It was so vibrantly green and big and beautiful among the smaller yellow and brown leaves.)


21 comments:

Judy Shreve said...

Great question to ponder! As I age, I see more and more of my mom in the mirror. So maybe youth hides those veins for a while -- as we wander in search of ourselves - but I think we always end up close to the tree we came from :-)

Angela Recada said...

Thanks Judy! I have to agree. As much as I may have wanted to become a more exotic species, I guess I'll always be a part of that simple maple tree. But I'd be one of the reddest leaves on that tree in the Fall! :0)

ArtistUnplugged said...

Ah....poignant question! I see your point, kind of like the acorn doesn't fall far from the tree. Sometimes though I feel like a willow, floating along, sometimes a big shade tree, caring for my family and some times in my life I feel like the tree that is bare of any leaves. Oh well, you get the picture. Love the post!

Angela Recada said...

Ah, yes! I would really like to spend some time being a willow, too.

Julie-ann Frances said...

Angela this is amazing. I've never thought of a leaf this way. You can see the tree in the leaf. So cool!
Nanci Danison says that the universe and its dimensions are like a tree, which the trunk and the dimensions like branches of it.
We could be looking at the set up of the whole universe in a leaf.
You've opened my mind up,thank you!
:)

dori said...

This is wonderful!

Angela Recada said...

And, as I think about this some more :0) it makes me realize that if you marry a maple leaf, you will never be able to change it into an oak leaf. Never. Ever.
:0)

Paula said...

Angela, remember the celtic tree of life which I painted a year ago? Where the end meets its begin? All intertwined? Its still my power symbol and goes along your leaf. Its a incredibly beautiful leaf.

kj said...

this is a wonderful version of 'leopards don't change their spots.'

i keep thinking...."but, for LOVE?" even after my own hard lesson i still hold on to being willing to change for love....

...even though i know, as you have so beautifully observed, that leaves and trees and people can only change so much before they stop being themselves, which is never a good thing.

i see traits in my daughter, angela, and in my second grandson, that are so familiar to me because they are part of me too.

i am so glad you are blogging xoxo
love
kj

Lisa Graham Art said...

Interesting thought Angela. I have also often thought that a tree resembles the human circulatory system...trunk branching out into tiny twigs...heart branches out into large veins and arteries and then smaller ones and then capillaries which resemble the twigs on a tree.

lynne h said...

although in some ways i'm very much like the tree of my family, in most ways i'm another species altogether. we're both trees - we both have leaves and roots and such, but there the similarity ends. it took me a long, long time to realize this, but now it seems so obvious...

love, love...

Clare said...

I have never thought about this, seen a leaf like this before - but have always been drawn to look at leaves, there is something about them that draws you in, makes you want to hold them. Wonderful thoughts

Robyn said...

I like what you see x

AkasaWolfSong said...

I love your observation Angela!

Tis true we are alot like the branches of our family trees...I see much of my mother and grandmothers in myself and my grandchildren.

Your leaf looks like an Elm leaf.

Yesterday I picked up a pretty pink Maple leaf that had been blown into my yard from the rain and wind we've been experiencing...I have it pressed between some pages in my journal. I did the very same with an elm leaf. I have some creative ideas floating in my head to use them, lol. I'm not really an artsy type but sometimes my muse will call me out so I'd best listen.

Wonderful post today!
Harvest Blessings Dear One! :)

Julie-ann Frances said...

Thank you so much Angela! Are your days getting sunnier there? We're having a really hot week here in the uk. Lovely outside. It rained and was dull for a good few weeks and we all thought that was it, no more summer. I think we're getting a week blessing! Hope the sunshine is coming your way too! Hugs! Julie

Annie Coe said...

Angela, I love this leaf and the fact that it does indeed look like a tree. For me I hope to God I am not like my family! Yikes! I love them and I may "look" like them, but I am different and myself :-). xoxo

A Dancing Mango said...

Yes, this is amazing. I see things as they are.. but his one hit me!
One ought to do a paintin of the tree in the middle.
I am happy to see you back Angela, I understand how you feel in most of your posts.. and it wasn't til recently that I stopped battling what state I am going to live in.
"Bloom where we are planted" is the best.. and Home is where your heart is.. ♥

MulticoloredPieces said...

Thoughtful post...and here I was just writing about grandmothers! Family trees, leafy trees, falling leaves. Thanks so for stopping by my blog and commenting. It's always a pleasure.
best, nadia

Karen Martin Sampson said...

I love the way you think, Angela, and decided it was about time I FOLLOWED you! You can find me on blogspot too.

Art at Chesterbrook Academy Elementary School said...

Beautiful shot.
One can see the amazing patterns of leaves.

LauraX said...

yes yes yes...so true. I've written about this two...they are like a map of where they come from.