Month: March 2025

creativity

My foster dog, Serena

Christa Avampato
Me and Serena in Brooklyn. Our first photo together!

My sixth Muddy Paws Rescue foster dog, Serena, arrived in New York City on Saturday morning. She traveled all night from a shelter in Kentucky. I was giddy to pick her up.

As soon as I saw her, I knew she was terrified of everything and everyone. Her tail was tucked under her and her body was incredibly tense. It took us an hour to walk three blocks in midtown – she would walk a few steps and then completely freeze. I ended up carrying her (and she’s 30 pounds!)

I wasn’t sure how the subway would go but we gave it a shot and she did fantastic. She crawled under the seats and fell asleep. Everyone on the train loved her. A couple and their little boy sitting next to us wanted to know all about her. I said her life was about to get so much better and she doesn’t even know it yet. When they said goodbye before getting off the train, the boy turned to me and said, “She’s going to have a much better life now!” I smiled and nodded. “Yes, she is,” I said.

Once we got back to my neighborhood, she was more comfortable walking. It’s clear she likes other dogs and people as she was friendly to everyone we saw. There were some landscapers and workmen in my neighborhood who stopped us on our walks to ask if they could say hi to her. She was happy to sit down next to them and get some pets. Lots of my neighbors were out enjoying the warm weather. They were excited to hear about my new foster. One nicknamed her Serene Serena, and that name suits her well.

Whenever Serena catches a glimpse of herself in a window, mirror, of the reflection on a car, she thinks it’s another dog and she gets very excited. As far as I can tell, she doesn’t have any prey drive but loves to sniff around. She has a real penchant for crawling underneath things (like parked cars, my tables, my desk, my bed, and my electric keyboard), likely to feel safe and protected. She put herself in her crate without any prompting, and fell asleep there all on her own. She also took a nap in my dog, Phineas’s, orthopedic bed. I’m quite sure his scent is still there, as is his spirit.

I don’t know anything about her history except that she ended up in a shelter in Kentucky. She very skinny and it doesn’t seem that she knows what a collar or a leash are. She was very skittish in my apartment at first, unsure if she is allowed to do or have anything unless it’s expressly given to her multiple times with lots of praise. She drank a lot of water and nibbled at some food, but only when I hand fed her. She has no interest in treats though she was happy to carry around toys in her mouth when I gave them to her. When she wags her tail, she wags her whole body. Her ears feel like velvet.

Throughout the afternoon, we took a few more walks outside. I couldn’t get her to do her business on any of the walks. (I wonder if that’s a safety issue as well.) She did eventually have an accident in my apartment (on the laminate flooring in the kitchen and not on the carpet, which I very much appreciate!) It was evident that she was terrified she was in a lot of trouble, tensing her body and sinking low to the floor with her head down. Of course, I just cleaned it up with no reaction, and she seemed both surprised and confused.

I’m watching her snooze now, finally letting herself relax. Though I have both a large crate and a medium crate, she’s squeezed herself into the medium one. She’s snoring and moving her feet. I hope whatever dream she’s having, she’s secure in the fact that she’s never going to spend a night in a shelter ever again. It’s only the good life from here on out. It’s incredible to me how brave she’s being, despite being so scared. She lets me give her pets, hugs, and snuggles. She’s clearly been through so much in her short life. I’m honored I can help her start this new chapter – safe and loved.

On my way to get Serena and after I picked her up, I saw so many dachshunds. My little guy, Phin, saying hi and telling me that he’s with us. Serena still has floppy dewclaws on her back legs with a nail growing from them. Phinny had dewclaws like this on his back legs, too. I would call them his special toes. I’ve never seen them on any other dog before. I guess Serena really was meant to be my foster.

creativity

Bees Can Teach Us How to Live and Work

Christa Avampato
Bees working in their hive. Photo by Shelby Cohron on Unsplash.

Have you ever thought about bees as your life or career coaches? As an aspiring beekeeper, I’m fascinated by how these incredible creatures live and work. Their hives are a model combination of structure and flexibility.

Experts versus generalists

Some bees are genetically predisposed to have certain talents making them suitable for specific jobs. Others prefer to learn new skills and have new experiences, so they may hold a whole host of different jobs. Some have multiple jobs at the same time. Most bees are generalists; they cycle through different jobs at different stages of their lives and depending upon what the hive needs at any one time.

By nature, I’m curious and have an interest in a lot of different areas. None of us is just one thing. We contain multitudes. We can live our lives spherically, in many different directions, and be better for it.

Unified by a common purpose

While each bee has their talents and preferences, all of them work in service of their hive. They have one guiding mission – to perpetuate the health and longevity of their hive long after any one individual has passed away. For example, middle aged bees usually begin foraging. However, if the population of the hive needs to increase to maintain its health, a middle-aged bee will delay the foraging portion of their lives in favor of tending to the brood of baby bees (known as larvae.) Similarly, if the population of the hive is booming and more foragers are needed to collect nectar, pollen, and water to keep the hive healthy, she will begin to forage sooner than middle age.

This reminds of looking at our career choices through three lenses: what are we good at, what does the world need, and what do we enjoy doing? What is our higher purpose, and how do our lives and careers serve that purpose?

Managing career transitions

Though a worker honeybee only lives for a month or two, she often holds many jobs in that time and sometimes has more than one job at once. As soon as she emerges from her cell, a young bee gets to work around the hive, cleaning brood cells (including the one from which she just emerged) so that the queen bee can lay new eggs. Younger bees work inside the hive (like a child learning to do chores around the house) and older, more experienced bees work outside the hive, foraging for nectar, pollen, and water. Bees are never afraid to try something new, to be beginners. They are secure in their abilities, and they believe in one another’s abilities.

Whenever I’m trying something new, I think of bees and try to have the courage and confidence they have. Being part of a team means we’re never alone in our work. We’re all in it together.

Caring for the next generation

Taking care of their community is the north star for bees. Caring for future generations is the whole reason they do what they do. A nurse bee feeds and cares for thousands of developing bees, as well as the adult bees in the hive. Nurse bees also build new comb while caring for their bee family and build it with surprising speed. It’s a collaborative effort, with each bee playing their part in service to all the other bees and their collective future.

No one is an island. Taking care of each other in our community is also a way to take care of ourselves.

Minding their home

In addition to building comb, some bees are especially skilled at helping to maintain the temperature and humidity of the hive as weather conditions change. A hive is a dynamic place. When the temperature rises or plummets, or when drought sets in, environmentally inclined bees get to work using their bodies to heat and cool the hive so that their home and the bees who live there remain in tip top shape.

It’s easy for us to be heads-down on our work and consumed with our own lives. It’s worth taking a look around and seeing how we might be able to help the whole system in which we operate. We’ll be better off, and so will our neighbors, if the whole system works better for everyone.

Adventure awaits

As stated before, middle-aged bees begin the foraging chapter of their lives. They start by taking some test flights close to the hive to get their bearings. Within a matter of hours, they get the lay of the land and begin foraging for nectar, pollen, and water. What they collect, how much they collect, how many foraging trips they take per day, how far they travel, and if they attempt to multi-task by collecting more than one kind of material in a single trip depends upon the needs of the hive and the depth of the bee’s experience. Once she arrives back at her hive with the goods, she passes them off to receivers at the entrance of the hive before she either takes a rest or heads back out to forage again.

We spend a lot of time in our comfort zone. Getting out into the world gives us new perspective and benefits our community when we return with new knowledge and new experience.

Communication

The exchange of goods between foragers and receivers is thought to be a time for the bees to communicate. It’s possible that the receiver is letting the forager know what’s happening around the hive so that the forager is able to head out into the world to collect what the hive needs. The forager is letting the collector know what’s happening outside the hive.

If a forager is waiting a long time for a collector to take what she’s brought back, she will also begin to recruit more bees inside the hive to act as collectors, maximizing the efficiency of all of the foragers. She has agency to create a change. Foragers only travel from sunrise to sunset, and sleep through the night, so time is of the essence during daylight hours. Communication keeps the hive humming, literally and figuratively.

Our communities are healthier and happier when communication flows freely between members. Tell your stories and listen to the stories of others. We’re all better off when we share.

Rest

While we’ve given the proverbial title of worker bee to someone who’s always busy, bees prioritize rest for a very good reason – a tired bee doesn’t communicate nor navigate as well as a rested bee. The world is a treacherous place. To survive and thrive, and help her hive do the same, a bee must be well-rested and well-fed.

How many times do we tell ourselves, “Just push through,” when what we really need is to rest and recharge? Make like a bee and take a break. Nourish yourself. You’ll feel and work better when you take better care of yourself.

Looking to the future

No one home will suit a hive forever. While many bees spend their lives tending to the present needs of the hive, someone has to be on the lookout for what’s next. Scouts, who know the neighborhood well from their foraging, are consistently searching for the next home, and the next food and water sources. They will sometimes overnight in a new place to check it out as a potential future home for her hive. Once a home is chosen by the hive, a scout leads the entire swarm to that home, as she is one of the only bees in the hive to have ever been there.

While it’s important to be present, there’s also value to looking ahead every so often, too. Where might we want to go? What might be a future area of learning and experience for us? How might we refill the well?

So often the way we live and work is out of sync with how nature operates. How might our lives and careers be transformed if we took a page out of the bees’ book, establishing a flexible structure in our lives, careers, and communities that takes care of every member and allows every member to contribute?

creativity

How writing a screenplay helped me write the first draft of a novel

Christa Avampato
Photo by hannah grace on Unsplash

On Sunday afternoon, I wrote “The End” on the first draft of my new novel. While my first two novels are young adult fantasy adventure, this one is historical fiction. 

In December 1941 four friends graduate from an all-women’s college and seize new career opportunities in a world forever changed by war. I was so happy to sink back into the world of these four friends. The struggles they face are, unfortunately, highly relevant to the times we’re living in today. With themes of empowerment, being on the right side of history, speaking out against injustice, and the love story of female friendship, they’re determination made me more determined, too. 

I’m hoping that it will be the first book in a series. The subsequent books will share the very different journeys that each of these women take in a new world order emerging before their eyes and how their friendship will pull them through.

This story began as a screenplay in 2020. It was a quarterfinalist in 3 international screenwriting competitions and received great feedback. Since then, most of my writing has focused on getting my second Emerson Page novel published and writing my master’s dissertation for University of Cambridge. With those projects complete, I returned to my historical fiction screenplay in January of this year.

It turns out that writing a screenplay is akin to having a very detailed outline for a novel:

  1. All the dialogue is there.
  2. The scenes and their sequence are set.
  3. The characters and their relationships are developed.
  4. The plot is charted.

I wouldn’t say going from a screenplay to a novel is a slam dunk, no-effort-needed project. As someone who dreads a blank page, the screenplay was my map, a guide that helped steer my writing sessions and make them productive.

I’ll take a short break from this story (to finish the first draft of another novel that’s also nearly done!) and let the first draft build up some dust so I can return to it in a few weeks with fresh eyes. Then I’ll dive back in to begin the work of editing and rewriting.

I much prefer to edit and rewrite rather than write a first draft. I no longer have any blank pages. Every time I sit down to write, it will be to refine and improve what I already have. I’ll immerse myself in extra research (something else I absolutely love to do!) and I’ll add much more detail, polishing the story one word at a time. Editing and rewriting is gratifying work because it’s all about making the story shine.

I’m hopeful that this new novel will do well in the query process and that I’ll be able to find a literary agent — a goal I’ve had for many years. For now, I’m celebrating this huge milestone of completing the first draft. It only gets better from here!

creativity

Signs and teachings of spring in times of darkness

Christa Avampato
London Plane tree with vines

While we grapple with the battle that lies ahead in our country, I’m finding joy, solace, and rest when I need it in nature. I’m fortunate to live in a neighborhood in New York with a lot of green space. I’m close to Brooklyn’s Prospect Park and my neighborhood’s streets are lined with towering London Plane trees that are nearly 130 years old.

When I walk outside of my apartment, I always pause to look at the trees on my block. They have seen so much change, and have continued to rise, to survive. In my meditations, I imagine myself as one of them, reaching ever upward toward the light.

As I was coming home last week, I saw a small vine, climbing up the side of one of the London Plane trees. Small and purposeful, determined to defy gravity through its efforts, on tiny step at a time. How can we keep moving forward, reaching up, even as forces attempt to drag us back?

Crocuses

On a particularly cold day, I saw the crocuses pushing through the bare, frozen ground. They would not be kept from the sun any more. It was time to bloom. I saw them in a small garden at Bowling Green near the ferry terminal, waiting for my friend, Ashley, so we could go together to Ellis Island. (More on that adventure in a separate post.)

“Aren’t they beautiful?” I heard a man’s voice say.

“They are,” I replied as I turned to face him. “Crocuses are small and mighty flowers.”

“What did you call them?” he asked me.

“Crocuses,” I repeated. “They’re the first flowers to bloom. They tell us spring will be here soon.”

“You mean they tell us we made it? We made it through winter?” he asked.

I laughed. “Yes, that’s right. We made it.”

We high-fived. “I learned something today. Miss, God bless you. I’m gonna tell the people who take care of this garden about this.”

I’m stilling think about this man’s joy as he realized we had made it through, that perhaps our best days are still ahead of us. How can we hang onto that idea in the midst of turmoil?

Daffodils in Prospect Park

March’s flower is the daffodil. As a March baby, I always associate their arrival with my birthday. It’s also the official flower of New York City. My dear soul dog, Phineas, loved to put his beautiful, formidable snoot right into them when we’d walk together in Central Park so they always remind me of his beautiful spirit.

My soul dog, Phineas, smelling daffodils in Central Park

On my way to an appointment on Thursday, the first day of spring, I smiled as I saw legions of daffodils swaying in the soft wind. Nothing would keep them from heralding a new season. Nothing would keep them from their joy. Not the rain or the cold or the grey skies. They were born to sing. So are we.

creativity

The latest cancer treatment is in your medicine cabinet right now

Christa Avampato
Photo by Hal Gatewood on Unsplash

Open up your medicine cabinet and have a look around. You may have the latest cancer treatment front and center—aspirin. Yep. Good ole regular aspirin that costs ~$0.05 per tablet.

The discovery of aspirin’s nature roots dates back to ancient civilizations. Sumerians, Egyptians, and Greeks used willow bark as a pain reliever. The 18th- and 19th-century ushered in a host of developments that led to modern day aspirin. In 1763, English clergyman Edward Stone observed willow bark reduced fevers. In 1828, German chemist Joseph Buchner isolated salicin as the active chemical in willow bark. In 1853, French chemist Charles Gerhardt synthesized salicylic acid, a derivative of salicin. In 1897, German chemist Felix Hoffmann, working for the Bayer company, synthesized acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), a more stable and less irritating form of salicylic acid. He named the new compound “aspirin,” a combination of the words “acetyl” and “spiraea,” a plant related to willow. Bayer patented aspirin on March 6, 1899, and began marketing it as a pain reliever and fever reducer. 

Fast forward 126 years, almost exactly to the day. Scientists have now uncovered how aspirin works to stop some cancers such as breast, bowel, and prostate from spreading (known as metastasis.) Metastasis, the spread of cancer cells from primary tumors to distant organs, is the cause of 90% of cancer deaths globally.

When cancer first spreads, there’s a window of opportunity for treatment when cancer cells are particularly vulnerable. By stimulating the immune system during this window of time, aspirin could prevent spread and recurrence in patients with early cancer. The study, published on March 5, 2025 in the journal, Nature, will support ongoing clinical trials in humans, to work out who is most likely to benefit based on the many different aspects of tumors (known as biomarkers.) It’s also important to note that aspirin is known to increase bleeding risk and can cause extreme stomach upset and toxicity so this treatment must only be done under the recommendation and supervision of a medical team.

Professor Rahul Roychoudhuri in the Department of Pathology at the University of Cambridge, who led the work, said, “Despite advances in cancer treatment, many patients with early stage cancers receive treatments, such as surgical removal of the tumor, which have the potential to be curative, but later relapse due to the eventual growth of micro metastases–cancer cells that have seeded other parts of the body but remain in a latent state.

“Most immunotherapies are developed to treat patients with established metastatic cancer, but when cancer first spreads there’s a unique therapeutic window of opportunity when cancer cells are particularly vulnerable to immune attack. We hope that therapies that target this window of vulnerability will have tremendous scope in preventing recurrence in patients with early cancer at risk of recurrence.”

Aspirin is less expensive than antibody-based therapies, so more accessible globally. It also has fewer side effects than many cancer treatments and could therefore be better tolerated by patients to protect and preserve quality of life without compromising other aspects of a person’s health.

I have a long day of medical appointments with my oncology team at NYU’s Perlmutter Cancer Center next week on March 25th. (These are my regular check-ups and include the administration of some of my medications that I have to have done by my medical team.) I’ll absolutely discuss with them the potential of aspirin to help keep me cancer-free, and keep you updated on their response. I love to participate in research studies – not only does it help me, but it also helps me pay forward all of the benefits I’ve received from others who participated in research that make my treatments possible. Curing cancer takes a village, and maybe someday, a daily dose of aspirin.

creativity

New research to relieve radiation fibrosis for cancer patients

Christa Avampato
Photo by Oksana Taran on Unsplash

Some nerdy science news! Ever since my early breast cancer diagnosis in 2020, I’ve participated in a number of scientific studies and new medical treatments. Last week I began a new one after one of my doctors suggested it as a way to help support my body’s ongoing healing.

I had my bilateral mastectomy in October 2020. When the pathology was done, the research team found that lymph nodes in my left breast were positive for cancer cells even though they had biopsied negative. Additionally, I had something called “vascular invasion” on my left side. This means a few pesky breast cancer cells were trying to make their way out of my breast tissue by traveling through my blood vessels and lymphatic system. I was fortunate that my surgery removed them and brought their journey to an end before they could do any more damage. We also did a second surgery under my left arm 2 weeks after my mastectomy to test those lymph nodes. Thankfully, all of the lymph nodes under my left arm were cancer-free (just like the ones under my right arm!) However, there was a very slight possibility that one or two of those cancer cells on the left side got away without us knowing. On the off chance that this happened, my radiation oncology team suggested radiation just on the left side to ensure we stopped them. (There was no vascular invasion on my right side, so radiation on the right side wasn’t needed.) Also, there was one lymph node very close to my lung and heart on the left side that was a tiny bit enlarged. Because of its location near my heart and lung, it was too risky to biopsy or remove it. So, radiation would be used to kill any cancer cells that might be trying to hang out in that lymph node.

In total, I had 6 weeks of radiation, 5 days each week, for a total of 30 radiation sessions. The last 5 sessions were a “boost” week meaning the radiation was stepped up to a higher level and aimed right at that lymph node near my heart and lung. Though I’m grateful for these lifesaving treatments, the side effects were a bit rough. I got a 3rd degree burn the size of a baseball in the center of my chest and it caused the muscles, ligaments, and tendons on the left side to tighten up considerably. Though I’ve regained almost all of my mobility in my upper body through a lot of hard work, those muscles, ligaments, and tendons on my left side are still very tight and my left shoulder rolls in very slightly as a result. This condition is called radiation fibrosis.

All of my medical cancer care is through NYU Langone Health in New York City. They recently hired Dr. Yingrong Zhu, a physiatrist who specializes in breast cancer survivorship. A physiatrist, also known as a physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) physician, is a medical doctor specializing in diagnosing and treating conditions affecting the musculoskeletal system, nervous system, and other bodily functions, with the goal of restoring function and improving quality of life.

I went to see Dr. Zhu this week and had a fantastic experience. She explained that the effects of radiation can persist for 20 years – I had no idea! – so this issues I’m having with tightness deserve attention. She also explained that because I work out and stretch every day (including stretches given to me by my physical therapy team right after my active treatment), more physical therapy wasn’t likely to help me. However, she told me about some small scientific studies that show a 6-month course of vitamin E 1000 i.u. supplements combined with a medication called pentoxifylline ER can help release tension in muscles affected by radiation fibrosis and lead to increased mobility.

Together, Dr. Zhu and I decided it was worth me trying this new medication combo. The side effects are minimal, and she’s had a few other patients who have benefitted from it. It’s too soon to tell if it will help me, but I’m always willing to try anything that helps support my health and well-being. I also see this as an opportunity to not only help myself, but also to help others by sharing my experience with this new treatment. I’m excited about the possibility of regaining more of my mobility and improving my quality of life. Here’s hoping that someday I’ll be able to do my beloved yoga backbends again!

creativity

Lavender — soothing for the mind and saving the clean energy revolution

Christa Avampato
Lavender field in Provence, France. Photo by Antony BEC on Unsplash.

Soon, lavender’s scent won’t be the only reason it causes you to take a deep inhale. In addition to soothing your mind, it’s about to revolutionize the way we store clean energy.

Lithium-ion batteries are often used to store clean energy and power electric vehicles because they are cost-efficient and have a large storage capacity. However, they require lithium and cobalt, two elements that lead to mining operations that can pollute land and water, and often utilize child labor. Additionally, they’re difficult to recycle, often leading to landfill waste, and they require significant amounts of energy to produce.

Sodium-sulfur batteries are an alternative to lithium-ion batteries. Unlike lithium and cobalt, sodium and sulfur are abundant, easily obtained, and relatively easy to recycle. However, these batteries can’t store nearly as much energy as lithium-ion batteries, and their storage capacity is degraded even further after a few charging cycles. The challenge for scientists has been how to create a battery that has the benefits of lithium-ion batteries and sodium-sulfur batteries without the downsides of either. Lavender, or more specifically linalool, to the rescue!

Linalool is the compound responsible for lavender’s calming scent. (Linalool is also found in other plants such as basil, bay laurel, some cannabis strains, mint, cinnamon, citrus fruits, rosewood, guava, peach, plum, pineapple, and passionfruit.) A research team at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces led by Paolo Giusto found linalool interacts with sulfur to help sodium-sulfur batteries deliver more power and hold a better charge over hundreds of charging cycles.

“By taking a creative look at nature, we are finding solutions to many of the challenges posed by the energy transition, “ said Paolo Giusto.

Nature to the rescue, again. As a society, we need to recognize that nature is not something to by dominated by our egos, but rather a wider guide, teacher, and partner to help us improve the lives all beings while caring for the one planet we all share.

creativity

The many forms of medicine

Christa Avampato

Every day, I’m grateful for the gift to be here with all of you. As a cancer survivor, I’m alive because of science and modern medicine. In addition to those incredible resources, there are also many other forms of medicine that we can embrace to support our health and well-being.

Nature is medicine.
Fresh air is medicine.
Healthy food is medicine.
Water is medicine.
Movement is medicine.
Meditation is medicine.
Peace is medicine.
Joy is medicine.
Laughter is medicine.
Love is medicine.
Creativity is medicine.
Music is medicine.
Purpose is medicine.
Friendship is medicine.
Community is medicine.
A pet is medicine.
Freedom is medicine.
Time is medicine.
Travel is medicine.
Access to care is medicine.

creativity

Remembering 5 years ago today

Christa Avampato

5 years ago today, the world shut down because of COVID-19. While we still mourn what we lost, who we lost, and how things changed, I hope we also remember the compassion, care, community, and concern so many people exhibited for their neighbors. I hope we can remember those days now from where we are today, and say, “Look what we could do together.” I’m forever grateful to those on the frontlines who gave everything they had to do everything they could to protect all of us. We will never be able to thank them enough.

creativity

Destruction can be a new beginning

Christa Avampato
Redwood trees sprout from burned trees in Yosemite. Photo by Chris Daines. Creative Commons license. https://www.flickr.com/photos/staticantics/4966177427/

For most species, including humans, wildfires represent a dire threat. But against all odds, fire’s fast-moving flames, smoke-filled skies, and relentless heat don’t always signal death in nature. Some species have evolved extraordinary adaptations to turn destruction into an opportunity — a gateway to survival and even proliferation. Their stories reveal how nature’s resilience and ingenuity can flourish in the face of destruction, and how following their lead can help us do the same.

1. Pyrophilous (“fire-loving”) beetles

Commonly known as fire beetles, these species have infrared sensors that detect heat, and antennae receptors that detect smoke. Together, these sensors and receptors guide them to the fires from up to 80 miles away. But why would a beetle want to fly into the fire?

Scorched forests provide them with everything they need to help create the next generation — the intense heat lifts the bark from the tree trunks where the beetles lay their eggs; without competition from other insects and free from the threat of predators, the larvae have the decaying wood as an abundant food source.

These beetles also jump start the rewilding process after a fire to help rebuild the ecosystem. As they break down the decaying wood, they speed up the recycling of nutrients into the soil and accelerate the growth of new plants and trees.

How can we put the beetle’s adaptations to work for us? Studying the structure of their sensors and receptors could help engineers and designers develop tools to help us identify fires from long-range distances, allowing us to deploy fire fighters and resources earlier and more quickly to extinguish them sooner and more effectively. These beetles also teach us that within the ashes of destruction lie opportunities for something new to grow and begin the process of rebuilding.

2. Woodpeckers

Black-backed, red-cockaded, and white-headed woodpeckers see post-fire landscapes as tasty buffets. They feast on the beetle larvae abundant in these areas. The woodpeckers keep the beetle populations under control to balance the newly forming ecosystems recovering from wildfires. The open, grassland conditions that are present in the early stages of forest recovery are perfect places for woodpeckers to nest and forage for food.

Woodpeckers show us that places that don’t look perfect can often be perfect for our needs.

3. Redwood trees

After a fire, redwood trees sprout new seedlings. This process is known as epicormic sprouting. They store energy in dormant buds under their bark. Even after centuries, these buds can sprout. They also sprout new growth from the roots of burned trees. This ability to resprout from dormant buds and from their roots, even after the tree dies, gives redwoods an advantage over tree species that reproduce through seeds alone.

Redwoods developed this adaptation to prepare for difficult times, giving them the best chance of propagating the next generation, even if the trees themselves wouldn’t live to see that future themselves.

These three species are exemplars of how to survive and thrive through difficulties and disturbances. Right now, we’re facing multiple, painful challenges in our world. Feelings of hopelessness and helplessness are understandable. Life on Earth has existed for nearly 4 billion years, and nature has faced a constant barrage of challenges throughout and adapted. Beetles, woodpeckers, and redwoods are three examples of how to rise to and overcome challenges: always seek opportunity everywhere, even and especially in the places that don’t sparkle and shine; contribute and be part of the rebuilding community; in times of plenty, prepare for times of scarcity.

When the student is ready, the teacher will appear. Nature has the lessons we need to learn. We can benefit from nature’s nearly 4 billion years of accumulated wisdom if we are willing to put aside our own egos. Are we ready and willing to be nature’s students?