By Megan-Mack Nicholson

Guest Columnist

If you were to think about the largest organism on earth, what would you imagine? Maybe an elephant? Or possibly a blue whale? What if I were to tell you the largest organism on earth spanned 108 acres, weighed 6,000 tons and was up to several thousand years old… and did I mention it is mostly out of sight?

Just for reference, that’s 1,000 elephants or 30 blue whales. Have you heard of Pando? Pando is the name given to a quaking aspen grove in Utah that is identified as the largest single living organism and is assumed to have a massive interconnected underground root system.

April is a month of rebirth here in Maine. Water thaws, birds return, peepers emerge and flowers start to find their way toward the sun. April is also Earth Month. Certain dates are well known, like April 22, which is celebrated as Earth Day, which began in 1970. April 15 is Tax Day, but we don’t want to talk about that. The 28th is my favorite — Arbor Day. Predating Earth Day by 100 years! Earth Day is a beautiful celebration of a wide variety of environmental concerns, however, Arbor Day focuses on the importance of trees. Trees, to me, are the most magnificent flower on the planet. There’s nothing like being in a forest, imagining yourself as small as a bee fluttering around from flower (tree) to flower. Every tree seems to be separate from the next, each holding a unique offering to the forest, yet still feeling as if it stands alone. It’s been proven that a forest of trees is connected through an immense network of mycelium that helps bring nutrients to young trees and trees in need — creating a stronger and more stable forest. Knowing about Pando, I can’t help from wondering what’s connected just below my feet… and then I make my way out of the woods and down the street. My mind shifts to the humans around me, my community.

Our communities are filled with, at eyesight level, such a diverse multicultural array of “things.” We drive different cars, have different political signs in our front yards, choose to decorate (or not decorate) at opposing times of the year, and some are bustling with energy while others — quiet. But that’s just at eye-level. What about all the ways we are connected “below” the surface. How the energy of what is happening in one household affects their neighbors just as the mycelium helps trees regulate forest health. I am blessed to live in a very tight-knit community, but we are all VERY different.

Recently, a fellow community member had a family emergency and I can’t tell you how IMMEDIATELY the rest of us showed up to support them in whatever way we could. In that moment, and in the moments still, we are operating as one. We are giving, they are receiving and we are all a stronger, healthier community for it. Most times, I think we walk around denying our connectedness. Why? Does it scare us to pretend we are inexplicably connected to the neighbors who didn’t vote as we did? Where and when did we decide to deny how connected we are below the surface? Maybe if we truly band together knowing how interwoven we are, WE would be the largest living organism on the planet.

Megan-Mack Nicholson is a registered Maine Guide, Shamanic-Reiki Practitioner, certified Nature and Forest Therapy Guide, Founder of Holon Healing and runs an Outdoor Leadership School in northern Maine. You can contact her at www.holonhealingme.com