Don’t Call a Tree a Tree

Hey, google “trees.”

Go ahead.

Do it. I’ll wait.

I’ll even do it for you, if you click this link.

If you look at the pictures, you’ll see several trees. Pick one and look at it. In your head, don’t look at it as a tree, just look at it. The one I picked is symmetrical and green, with an interesting pattern of branches. It leans just a bit to the left. I could almost smell the fresh air of the open field around me, imagining I was breathing the air from that tree.

Pick another one. Look at it. This one, for me, looks like someone grew it to be in the exact shape of a stick-figure man. It’s branches are spread wide, as if they are static and cannot touch. There’s a patch of dirt at the base. It is young, with a narrow trunk.

Words are useful. They help us communicate the basics of an idea quickly. The word “tree” allows us to talk about trees easily, and yet it labels each tree. For me, at least, this label prevents me from seeing that tree. And if I lived my whole life like that… probably nothing would change.

But with people, it isn’t like that. If I live my whole life seeing people as my first impression of them (accountant, pretty, agnostic, loud), then I would not have the opportunity to see the nuance. This would keep me from interacting with them as a whole person, and I would always be fitting their new behaviors into the old box I had put them in.

Consider looking at the people in your life without the labels you put on them. Every so often, look at them new. Question your assumptions about who they are.

And then tell me about it! I’d love to hear!

Sometimes it helps to not call a tree a tree.