Jennifer K. Jordan Blog

Two tall and thin trees grace the view outside my living room window. One grows straight up, and the other tips to the right. It curves at the top and looks like the tree version of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. I’ve lived here for eighteen years, and it’s never fallen. If I tipped to the right for many years, I may have tired out and tipped all the way over, but the tree still stands strong. Why is that?  I realize that I’m only seeing part of the story. The tree has many deep roots in the ground below, which anchor it strong and steady in the earth. Perhaps the tree tips because it’s weathered many wind and rain storms. Overtime, those forces could’ve tipped it to the right. The wind often comes here from the ocean toward the tree, so it could’ve pushed it over some. The tree next to it may be straight because the tipping tree protects it from the offshore breeze. Why does the tipping tree speak to me so much? It’s because I am like the tipping tree. The tipping tree is not perfect ...

  On a recent trip to Africa, I was amazed by the wisdom of lions. I saw a pride of three lions, a male and two females, display the brilliance of teamwork, trust, and balance. Teamwork- I watched these lions in a beautiful symphony of teamwork as they engaged in a hunt. I was in a jeep on a flat surface below a hill. The lions saw an antelope on top of the hill who was their target. One-by-one, they headed off for the hunt, without a sound, and spread themselves out.  The first female lion, known as the chaser, went up the hill to pursue the antelope. The second female lion waited at the bottom of the hill to kill the antelope that the chaser would hopefully chase down the hill. The male lion lay behind her in case he was needed to complete the kill or do it entirely. The drama then began. The first lion dashed up the hill to get the antelope, while the other two lions waited intensely to do the kill. They had each walked so slowly and deliberately to their spots th...