Blackberries (Day 2)

This year has been a fabulous year for blackberries and they are everywhere! They line the street walls, their branches sprawling over fences, scattering purple stars on the pavements where the berries fall.
As I wander along, I snack on the juicy fruits, savouring the bursts of green and purple in the otherwise concrete-grey streets. I start to think that I should have brought a box; there are so many blackberries, I would hate for them to go to waste. But then I pause. Why do I think that? Would the blackberries really be wasted if I didn’t pick them? Do I believe something is only valuable if humans (or specifically, I) can use it?

Many creatures eat blackberries and will be delighting in this good harvest. Countless beings make homes in and under bramble shrubs, using them for shelter or to lay eggs. Blackberries that are not eaten will fall to the ground, decompose and enrich the soil. This sustains the mother plant, and sows new seeds in the process. In nature, nothing goes to waste. I notice how my initial thoughts reflect a Scarcity Mindset, the belief that I should grab what I can now before it is gone. Logically, I know that, at least for now, I have access to food in supermarkets, and that there will be swathes of blackberries as I walk. But just now, I take a moment to thank the blackberries for their lesson. I walk on, revelling in the abundance of today.

Watercolour and pen on paper