I was raking the leaves yesterday, clearing away the decayed vestiges of last year’s foliage even as this year’s leaves flaunt their newly minted green. The idea of a tidy forest floor is actually an oxymoron. No one rakes in the woods. And, as usually happens when my hands are occupied with a physical task, my mind went on its merry way somewhere else. I was imagining the decomposition of the leaves, and the busy activity that happens underground, connection upon connection, and the phrase “Mycorrhizal fungi mutualism” surfaced. A subterranean world came alive with a vast network of connections multiplying into the gazillions. Connections, information, sustenance, and mutual assistance for survival. So busy! So purposeful! And so dependably trusting. Even in a one-liter potted houseplant, one kilometer of these fine fungal filaments can be present to assist the plant’s growth with access to water and nutrients. What on earth (pun intended) does this have to do with writing? I think our brains are like the Mycorrhizal fungi if we allow them to be. We have been taught to make sense, which is necessary for survival. We need to communicate our need for food, safety, warmth, shelter, comfort. We need to be clear and direct to manage healthy relationships. But in our creative minds we need a vast organism that willingly, trustingly, makes connections out of random bits of knowledge, experience and sensations when we first begin to write. Knowing exactly where we’re going takes the fun out of tunneling, surfacing, and tunneling more. Our memories and our imaginations work in tandem. They, like mycorrhizal fungi and most of earth’s plants, have a mutualism that forms the foundation of creative inspiration. Building connections and free associations is how we make meaning, which is an organic cousin to making sense. Creating a metaphor requires going deep, letting the detritus and debris become fertile. By roaming and excavating, committing to the deep nutrients of our imaginations and memories we invite vibrancy and a living, green voice to our pages. We are sprung from within.
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Winners for the Foreword Review Best Books of 2021 to be announced in June
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