Story by Lina Duchene // she/her // @lushhlina

Graphic by Zorayda Sanchez // she/her

There is something beautiful about the timing of nature. Its organic movement drives effortless change all around, and reminds me that things are meant to come in their own time. 

 I do not tell the leaves when to change their color. I do not tell the seeds when to bear fruit, and I most certainly do not tell the butterfly when to leave her cocoon. Ironically enough, these actions  stem from inaction — an external stillness that contradicts the forces of change that run wild within. 

Deciding when to act and when to wait patiently can be a struggle. If life were a bike ride, I would choose not to peddle each and every minute I’m sitting on the bike. If I never stopped peddling, I wouldn’t get to glide through the streets and feel the wind blow through my hair as the sweat droplets run down my face. Instead, I’d be pushing myself to exhaustion — never getting that time to rest and appreciate all the movement and peddling I did that got me here in the first place. 

The voices around me tell me “if you aren’t moving, you’re getting nowhere.” But little do they know I am coasting through it all — moving steadily, thoughtfully and purposefully. I am the leaves sitting gracefully on the tree branch, waiting to change color. I am the caterpillar waiting to emerge from the confines of my cocoon. I am the seed that enjoys occasionally sitting in the darkness, because I know that when it is my time– I will bear fruit.