When I flipped the new page of my Morning Altars calendar to the month of July, my eyes caught something special. On the 4th of July, Day Schildkret made a tiny (but powerful) edit. He changed “Independence Day'“ to “Interdependence Day.”

I loved it, and immediately sent him a message. It’s a reminder of how our growth and flourishing as an individual, community, and culture happens with interconnectedness and interdependence. Everything at the macro level is witnessed on a micro level. Cancer cells are the most damaged and isolated cells whose repair mechanisms have been destroyed. They’ve lost their natural function and cell identity.

We are meant to thrive together in community. When we are isolated, alone, and disconnected is when dis-integration and dis-ease are created. Conversely, when we work together and are in healthy communication with others, we thrive. Nature exemplifies this:

“You can check this out for yourself simply by looking up into the forest canopy. The average tree grows its branches out until it encounters the branch tips of a neighboring tree of the same height. It doesn't grow any wider because the air and better light in this space are already taken. However, it heavily reinforces the branches it has extended, so you get the impression that there's quite a shoving match going on up there. But a pair of true friends is careful right from the outset not to grow overly thick branches in each other's direction. The trees don't want to take anything away from each other, and so they develop sturdy branches only at the outer edges of their crowns, that is to say, only in the direction of "non-friends." Such partners are often so tightly connected at the roots that sometimes they even die together.”

-Peter Wohlleben, The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate: Discoveries from a Secret World

Scarcity mindset is everywhere in society. That ideas are sacred and the only safe space to create is in a vacuum. That’s not true. We thrive in a scenius. We all grow taller and healthier together. There is enough sunlight and air and water for all of us to thrive.