Resilience

Lessons from trees : 2. Resilience and Regrowth

Resilience for string orchestra, cello and piano ¹

This recording is a demo track in preparation for my upcoming album I Stand Silent – Six meditations on the life of trees. Orchestral music for meditation and contemplation.
Read more about this project here…

The Wisdom of Trees

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What does not kill me …

I drew inspiration for this piece from the tree that grows just metres from our kitchen window. It is scarred, has had branches removed, has survived drought, and these two galahs almost ringbarked it!

Every day, over the years and through the seasons, I have admired its changing colours and textures, the shelter and sustenance it provides, and its ability to survive.

Eucalypts are survivors, they can “recover from fire, grow back from a bare stump, shrug aside bark loss that would kill a lesser tree, and endure drought and floods.” ²

… may not make me stronger, but it will change me forever.

Resilience is about adapting to change. Surviving, with the intention of thriving. In the face of great adversity it can be heroic. But it can also be mundane. Like a tree just being a tree. Adapting to its environment and using whatever resources it has.

The music

In the wavering quavers (8th notes) heard at the beginning, there is strained dissonance, yet determination. This continues arduously in the background throughout. The main theme rises slightly then falls, rises and falls again, eventually returning to where it began. Undeterred, it keeps repeating in slightly different configurations.. There’s a counter-melody to this theme that keeps ascending, offering hope. The ending seems to resolve but there is still a hint of discord. Such is life.

The solo cello is a lone voice. No matter how much support or encouragement is received, every living thing must make its own way.

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A tale of human folly (and that’s putting it mildly)

They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
– Joni Mitchell

In the city where I live, a river red gum tree grew for a 100 years. It was 18-metres tall. Then a shopping centre was built around it. Later, the shopping centre was extended and the tree was enclosed under a glass ceiling.

2 years later it was dead.

There’s a limit to how much abuse a living thing can take.
But…
In the same shopping centre – caged, and surrounded by decking – this 2 metre diameter stump refuses to die.

That’s resilience.

Here’s what a fully alive, healthy river red gum looks like.

By Nature | Here I Stand

Through fire, storm, drought 
Flood, heatwave, freezing cold
Human ignorance and greed

Fated by a single seed landing
In this place
A hundred years ago

Here I stand
And here I must be

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Humans being

In this past week I’ve been moved by stories from the lives of two individuals who have faced serious trauma in their lives. Both are musicians, and music has been central to their recovery. Both are living examples of resilience and regrowth. One of them is Matt Evans, a composer and artist releasing music on Substack under the pseudonym Fog Chaser.

Here’s an interview where Matt shares his very personal story of recovery and re-emergence with Ryan Egan.

Seven Questions with Fog Chaser

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Know the Score: Resilience

1. The bark images in this video are all of the same eucalyptus tree that grows only a few metres from our house. I took them through different seasons and over a period of years.

The images of the forest fires and the burnt trees re-shooting are by Matt Palmer. Check out more of his stunning photography.

2. Gregory Moore, The University of Melbourne, Australian Geographic