The Gift of the Thistle Tree
- September 5, 2025
- Posted by: admin
- Categories: Business, Leadership, Mindfulness
A golden ray of light streamed through the window at which I sat. Almost instantly my aching body was bathed in the warmth of the summer sun. I looked outside.
The sun beam continued to weave its way through my treed garden, transforming it into a quilt of colors and textures, shapes and shadows. Eventually the path of light rested on the wall of my home again, where my thistle ‘tree’ stood, tall and conical, like a Christmas tree, just on the other side of my window.
I was in my second month of healing from an injury and had been unable to do much more than hobble out onto my porch all summer. As a coach, I used every processing modality I had to handle the pain, the sense of vulnerability, the sadness at the loss of my summer activities, and the frustrating dynamics of healing. I chose acceptance, patience and curiosity to guide my days. I was sitting by the window, with my computer, practicing all three.
The thistle tree emerged early this spring and was a favorite food of the equally early- awakening woodchuck. I would, in wonder, watch him stuff the thorny leaves into his cheeks, and munch. I figured he would eat the plant and I wouldn’t need to dig it up. But the thistle had other inclinations. It survived the murderous assault and grew higher. By the time I paid attention to it again it had developed its conical shape which caught my eye, so I decided to host it for the year. Little did I know how that plant would transform my summer.
As the thistle grew, it developed beautiful purple flower buds and truly looked like a Christmas tree. Then the flowers burst open to offer sacred food for pollinators- bumblebees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Every day it was visited and adorned by a variety of them as I watched, just a foot away, from my window. I saw the bees harvesting the pollen, set boundaries with one another, cooperate, and decorate themselves with pollen.
I began to distinguish them, and realized I was seeing a variety of bumblebees as well as honeybees, other bees, and flies or wasps that look like bees. I jumped into researching them. Did you know that Massachusetts has over 400 types of bees? I printed off photos of them and their nests, hives and “lifestyle” and made a poster for my sunny nook.
Within a week of their arrival, I noticed the honeybees emerging from under our porch. They were beginning to build a small hive. Every day I would walk through them buzzing around. I came and went, and so did they. I felt a rush of joy every time we moved into one another’s field and was so happy to see them set up home with us.
As the weeks passed the thistle flowers transformed into mature seedheads. They were fluffy, downy, white snowballs, the down attached to the more deeply lying seed. The seeds would soon be airborne on their downy parachutes! The goldfinches knew this also. One day there was a brilliant yellow flash of a bird on the tree, and within a few days the goldfinches were covering the tree, dangling down from the thorny branches like Christmas ornaments, to reach the mature seeds in the seedhead below them.
They grabbed mouthfuls of the downy parachutes from the seedhead, and with a few manipulations of the beak they separated the seed from the down and released their prized, high protein food. The down was flying everywhere; it was a feeding frenzy. Amidst them, the bees and hummingbirds were still harvesting pollen from late-blooming flowers. I was transfixed by it all. I felt no pain and had no thoughts of the future. Nothing to be concerned with, nothing to figure out. I was in the present, miraculous moment.
Now I am healing, and my eight-foot-tall thistle tree has loosened its remaining fluff to the wind. Having been a resource for so many creatures, it has, in turn, received the gift of having its pollen and seeds dispersed. The relationships have sustained them all. As for me, I received the indirect gift of being totally present to the cycle of life that sustains us all. Now, besides acceptance, patience, and curiosity, I am practicing gratitude and am full of joy for being transported to this place, this moment, of true beauty, true blessing.
We too are members of this miraculous system of life. We interact with it in our individual and collective relationships. Our businesses are just one form of living system with their own subsystems, one inner (workplace relationships) and one or more outer (relationships with external systems). We interact with all living systems in direct and indirect, conscious and unconscious ways. By being mindful of our impact, we can help sustain and benefit from something beyond ourselves.
Being mindful requires learning to stay present to the moment. It’s SO easy to be regularly pulled out of presence by life’s interruptions or our own thoughts or feelings. Staying present is a master practice followed by leaders in all fields of life. When present , we access creativity, mental openness, curiosity, and we can harvest the wisdom of our feelings. Learning to practice presence is transformative for my clients in sustaining relationships and remaining resilient in times of change and challenge.
It doesn’t matter if your business is only YOU. You can have a powerfully positive impact on your life and that of others with these practices. If you are resonating with this message, feel welcome to reach out and we can talk about it. I’m curious and open about people’s leadership journey. There are no strings. Just connecting, person to person. – Karen Elise