The Roots of the Trees

Go with me on this one.  Apparently, actress Sigourney Weaver is starring in a new television drama, Political Animals, on the USA Network, so she has been interviewed several times over the past few weeks by a variety of journalists.  Today, I heard an interview that she did with Dave Davies on Fresh Air.  During the interview, sound bites from others of her movies were played, including this little gem from the movie Avatar in which she played the role of biologist, Dr. Grace Augustine.  In this scene, she is defending the planet, Pandora, which the humans would like to rob of its precious resources rooted within the trees…

Those trees were sacred to the Omaticaya in a way you cannot imagine… I’m not talking about some kind of Pagan voodoo here, I’m talking about something real, something measureable in the biology of the forest…

What we think we know is this there is some kind of electrochemical communication between the roots of the trees; like the synapses between neurons.  And each tree has 104 connections to the trees around it; and there are 1012 trees on Pandora… It’s more connections than the human brain! 

Don’t you get it?  It’s a NETWORK.  It’s a global network and the Na’vi, they can access it.  They can upload and download data; memories at sites like the one that you just destroyed….

So, boiling down the scientific mumbo-jumbo here, I believe what Dr. Augustine is so aptly pointing out is each organism’s important role in the overall network.  If even one component is destroyed, the data, the information, the memories stored within that unit are potentially lost forever.

Forgive me for getting a bit esoteric and borrowing movie lines to make my point, but I contend that your network is no different.  You must think of each of your contacts as the keeper of some vital bit of information – the storehouse of memories, of experiences, of advice and guidance.  Through your own network, you have a wealth of precious resources that must be cared for, nurtured and maintained.

In the past two days alone, I must give credit to three of my contacts:  Corey, Brent and Kristin.  It’s been a while since I touched base with these important people in my personal network. 

  • Corey sent me a note to simply say, “Hello,” and to tell me that he intends to do a better job of keeping in touch in the future.  Bravo, Corey!  You remind me to go through my own contacts and to reach out to folks who I have not touched base with in a while. 
  • Brent’s message said, “Hi.  Simple as that.”  He went on to ask how things were going in my world and update me a bit about his activities.  Wow!  That was simple and I so appreciated the outreach.
  • Kristin updated her LinkedIn profile with some new info.  I sent her a quick note of congratulations.  She responded immediately with an offer to connect me with someone who she recently met.  How cool is that?

It felt great to renew my connection with each of these individuals.  And, this is easy stuff, folks!  All it takes is a bit of care, consideration, respect and interest in maintaining your precious resources.  Time to go water some trees!

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