A Place for Flourishing
The
setting is a pastoral valley – virtually synonymous in the context of
agriculture with fertility and the promise of fruitfulness in due season. The
scene is bathed in golden life-giving light. Near one corner, the leaves of a few
mighty trees are silhouetted against a pale blue sky, while the grassy slopes
of a towering mountain dominate the top half of the picturesque scene.
In the
foreground, a bright yellow field cradles a number of greenhouses. The shelters
are constructed with tight symmetrical frames and steep-pitched roofs which
together support clear glass panels. The nine visible greenhouses crowding the
heart of the landscape suggest the likelihood of a larger development expanding
to a place of imagination beyond the boundaries of what is seen.
In front
of the greenhouses – not confined by them but perhaps benefiting to some
extent from reflected light and warmth – are large plants that appear to be
sunflowers. These ordinary flowers are an apt metaphor of learning and seeking
truth, since smaller sunflower leaves (and immature blooms) are known for their
solar tracking ability, or heliotropism. The commonplace but remarkable plants
anticipate the sunrise by positioning themselves to face east in the darkness
of early morning, then follow the light of the sun as it rises and moves across
the sky (Hangarter).
I am a
lover of learning. I have neither a desire nor any professional need for an
additional graduate degree, but found myself fascinated by SMU’s Master of Liberal
Studies program from my first reading of the course descriptions for “The Human
Experience.” I have found the five classes I’ve already completed in the MLS program
(I limit myself to one course per semester) to be quite satisfying, and am
greatly enjoying the class I began two weeks ago, Exploring Human Potential, taught by Dr. Charlotte Barner.
In our first
class, we were invited to choose one photo from a selection of more than 100
images that were printed and placed around the classroom, and then to introduce
ourselves by sharing how the image might relate to our participation in the MLS
program. The scene I selected for that initial
session nicely depicts my reasons for taking the course.
The
environment is not only fertile and conducive for learning, it is lovely in its
own right. The essential ingredients for growth appear to be present in abundance.
There is structure, but the structures are not restrictive. The glass walls
offer an incubator for growth while remaining open to the light.
The sunflowers
grow in the context of the greenhouses, yet they are – in a sense – “out of the
box.” The plants are not rootless, but neither are they root-bound. They follow
the light not because it is required of them but because it is their nature to
grow and develop. They are enlarged by the fecundity of their environment, and
– though commonplace and perhaps a bit “ordinary” – the plants are becoming not
only strong but, in their own way, beautiful.
I do not
know if it makes sense to speak of sunflowers “learning.” But as they
assimilate the various nutrients available to them, they develop from seeds to
stalks, from buds to blossoms. They are changed, and their brief season of life
is enriched by the bountiful resources and luxuriant setting in which they
reside: A Place for Flourishing.
WORKS CITED
Hangarter, Roger P. “Solar tracking:
sunflower plants.” Department of Biology.
Indiana U, n.d. Web. 1 Feb. 2015. http://plantsinmotion.bio.indiana.edu/plantmotion /movements/tropism/solartrack/solartrack.html
