To Be Taught, If Fortunate

by Becky Chambers

When the world you know is out of reach, nothing is more welcome than a measurable reminder that it still exists.

Have you ever been in a place where history becomes tangible? Where you stand motionless, feeling time and importance press around you, press into you?

Don’t believe the lie of individual trees, each a monument to its own self-made success. A forest is an interdependent community. Resources are shared, and life in isolation is a death sentence.

At some point, you have to accept the fact that any movement creates waves, and the only other option is to lie still and learn nothing.