I have on my farm a magnificent old pear tree. This tree has grown from a small seed. First, the seed died. It found welcoming soil and morphed into a tiny shoot. In time, with nurture, it came to full growth, a thing of beauty at many levels, all on a scale out of proportion to the original seed, and full of generative potential in its turn. The tree provides shade and shelter, owners and fruit. It might provide wood for warmth or walls or works of art. It might contribute to a landscape or resist erosion. It might inspire poems or plays, paintings or photographs (such as my painting “Ki-seki”). It might spark a scientific discovery, host children at play, or lead a man or woman to reconnect on the nature of life.
—Makoto Fujimura, Culture Care
“Ki-Seki” in Japanese means “Tree-Mark” but also “Miracle”. I was told when I bought my Princeton farm house that this old tree may never flower again. But in the second year, it blossomed into spectacular abundance. May such small resurrections be seen all around us, and may our journey be ever more generative. Copyright © 2014 Makoto Fujimura