Isaac remembers his first discovery of reality’s building blocks. He always thought of his exploration of outer space as a distraction from everyday life issues. Now, Ms. Stardust’s perspective has awakened him to the realization that we are all made of the same elements, even those leading us into climate disaster. Isaac’s defense lessened a bit, Stardust's response has clearly evoked a poignant sadness that has softened his heart.  

Right then, he notices the figure on the left moving towards him and Ms. Stardust.  

"Now",  says the figure, "while you guys are chatting away here, I've noticed this young lad feeling intensely touched by your life’s attitude, Lady Stardust."

The tone of this voice charms Isaac, as if this figure speaks from sensitive wisdom rather than presupposed knowledge. Its appearance suggests it is quite young, but its physical form is impressive. A trunk, not very thick, rises up from layers and layers and layers of roots...

"Who are you?" Isaac dares to ask.

"A survivor", the tree replies. "Of explosions, Ice ages, and heat waves. And now, perhaps, of the Anthropocene. Partially thanks to Ms. Stardust over there."

Isaac never expected a tree to be retroactively thankful towards reality’s building blocks. Somehow, in his mind, the two were largely independent and certainly inanimate phenomena. The apple seems to always fall far, far from the tree…

"You know, I have had more than 9500 years to think about my existence. Now, that may not be as long as Stardust's journey up so far, but long enough to recognize some patterns, don’t you think? And as you can see, my life depends deeply on the cloning of life's patterns…"

"What did you learn?", Isaac does not hesitate to ask while the shape of the roots keeps him mesmerized.

"That even though I have been standing here quite lonely, and I may have survived centuries characterized by different kind of surroundings and conditions, my existence is still fully dependent on my environment."

Isaac thinks this is a rather strange response from a figure like this tree, apparently standing alone, not needing anyone to support him in his fight for survival, and having outlived many generations of human beings.

Isaac’s courage is growing a bit, shown by the way he tilts his face and raises one eyebrow.

"I see", the tree says, "You want to understand."

"There is more to me than meets the eye. In reality, I am part of a very old root system that dates back thousands of years.

My trunk has died and regrown many times, but my root system has remained intact. It is actually thanks to heavy snow that my low-lying branches touch the earth and take root. New roots sprout from the contact point with the earth. So, in this way, you see, it is thanks to weather change and the earth beneath my trunk that I am still alive, after all these years. Likewise, underneath the earth, there is a mega ecosystem of mighty mycelia exchanging communication signals and nutrients between me and my fellow plants. And mind you, your microbiome also depends on similar fungal organisms. I am sure there is also more to you than meets that daunting gaze.”

Isaac feels moved by this old, old story of collaborative survival. He thinks about his own roots, how intergenerational connections are, in a sense, a vital source of meaning and perspective for him, an idea that calls to mind his special friendship with his grandfather, how their love for big questions often accompanies their Sunday evening walks during hot summer days.

The tree bends towards Isaac and says: “Don't forget, earth is a place full of life, everywhere we look, we can recognize how billions of interactions are but the birth of new forms of life. Remember that your existence always touches upon someone else's. If anything, we are bending the arrow of time simply by being in contact with one another.”

Isaac is struck by their in-depth conversation, as if he is listening to himself more deeply than he has in a long time. A delicate smile appears on his face. All this chatter with odd figures seems to be more magical than real, and yet it is happening, and he is part of it, as his senses are telling him so.

And while the tree keeps swaying from one side to another as if symbolizing a steady facial expression of satisfaction and comfort, the third figure feels called to enter the dialog.

"My dear tree friend", it says, "How thankful I am for all the leaves you and your friends cordially share with us."

A beautiful creature, somewhat stiff in its appearance, smiles gratefully towards the old spruce and then turns its head towards Isaac.

"Don't you love the shadow and hiding places this old pal and its wandering branches provides us with on hot summer days?"

Isaac feels a strange mix of repulsion and fascination. This creature’s contrasting black and yellow colors are certainly captivating, but its demeanor and pale eyes seem to suggest he keep safe distance.

"Yes", Isaac says hesitatingly, "it's my favorite reading site."

"Ah, what a coincidence, you are also a loner?"

A few sentences into the conversation and Isaac feels a strange intimacy with her. His own reaction to this creature mirrors other people’s reactions to Isaac, and this makes Isaac feel sympathy towards this amfibi-like animal.

"You know, for a long time, I have not felt quite understood by your fellow human beings. All sorts of stories are projected on my tribe. This misunderstanding is captured expressively by my name: Salamandra Salamandra, also known as fire salamander. For a long time, people thought that my beings were immune to fire. In medieval myths, fire salamanders provide protection from fire. The irony is, in reality, we detest temperatures above twenty degrees Celsius since we rely on our environment to regulate our body temperature. Extremes render us vulnerable; we hate fire, and we can freeze to death.

Some of the myths rose out of the fact that fire salamanders used to hide in the wood blocks people used for their fireplaces. Once they threw these blocks in the fire, they saw the hidden salamanders flee and imagined they were 'born from the fire'. Isn't that a funny misconception?"

"So, you don't feel anger for being misunderstood?"

"Don't you love the shadow and hiding places this old pal and its wandering branches

provides us with on hot summer days?"

Isaac feels a strange mix of repulsion and fascination. This creature’s contrasting black and yellow colors are certainly captivating, but its demeanor and pale eyes seem to suggest he keep safe distance.

"Yes", Isaac says hesitatingly, "it's my favorite reading site."

"Ah, what a coincidence, you are also a loner?"

A few sentences into the conversation and Isaac feels a strange intimacy with her. His own reaction to this creature mirrors other people’s reactions to Isaac, and this makes Isaac feel sympathy towards this amfibi-like animal.

"You know, for a long time, I have not felt quite understood by your fellow human beings. All sorts of stories are projected on my tribe. This misunderstanding is captured expressively by my name: Salamandra Salamandra, also known as fire salamander. For a long time, people thought that my beings were immune to fire. In medieval myths, fire salamanders provide protection from fire. The irony is, in reality, we detest temperatures above twenty degrees Celsius since we rely on our environment to regulate our body temperature. Extremes render us vulnerable; we hate fire, and we can freeze to death.

Some of the myths rose out of the fact that fire salamanders used to hide in the wood blocks people used for their fireplaces. Once they threw these blocks in the fire, they saw the hidden salamanders flee and imagined they were 'born from the fire'. Isn't that a funny misconception?"

"So, you don't feel anger for being misunderstood?"

“I have come to the conclusion that human beings need quite a lot of time to truly understand their environment. And really, this can only elicit empathy from my side since you guys have been around for such a brief time. We certainly have had more time to understand your nature and we’ve noticed that you have a thing for fictional stories you hang on to much longer than the context demands for. Long after wood has expired as your main source of heating – you are actually in dire need for new energy resources – this myth has persisted. Wouldn’t you be interested in telling a different kind of story…? What if this forest would not be considered a pile of wood but a sacred grove?"

"Well," Isaac says entertained by the inquisitive nature of the conversation, "I can actually tell you a little fact you might enjoy. 'Salamandra Salamandra' refers to the Persian word 'samandar'. 'Sàm' stands for fire and 'andarun' means 'inside'."

"Aah, how eloquently you know your languages", the salamander responds enchanted.

Isaac laughs spontaneously and then becomes a bit overwhelmed. Suddenly, he feels he needs to protect himself in front of this uncanny familiar being. What the heck does this all mean, really? As questions pop up, he wants to leave this strange scene but freezes to the ground. Sensitive Ms. Stardust flies to his left side asking: "Now, tell us, what about your inner fire?"

Her question reminds him of all the times the people around him misunderstand his needs, what he genuinely loves doing and what he thought he could become.

At this point, the coaches' last friend enters the scene, from above.

"Dear friends, how lovely to see you grouped together. I noticed someone freezing over here and felt instantly drawn."

“I have come to the conclusion that human beings need quite a lot of time to truly understand their environment. And really, this can only elicit empathy from my side since you guys have been around for such a brief time. We certainly have had more time to understand your nature and we’ve noticed that you have a thing for fictional stories you hang on to much longer than the context demands for. Long after wood has expired as your main source of heating – you are actually in dire need for new energy resources – this myth has persisted. Wouldn’t you be interested in telling a different kind of story…? What if this forest would not be considered a pile of wood but a sacred grove?"

"Well," Isaac says entertained by the inquisitive nature of the conversation, "I can actually tell you a little fact you might enjoy. 'Salamandra Salamandra' refers to the Persian word 'samandar'. 'Sàm' stands for fire and 'andarun' means 'inside'."

"Aah, how eloquently you know your languages", the salamander responds enchanted.

Isaac laughs spontaneously and then becomes a bit overwhelmed. Suddenly, he feels he needs to protect himself in front of this uncanny familiar being. What the heck does this all mean, really? As questions pop up, he wants to leave this strange scene but freezes to the ground. Sensitive Ms. Stardust flies to his left side asking: "Now, tell us, what about your inner fire?"

Her question reminds him of all the times the people around him misunderstand his needs, what he genuinely loves doing and what he thought he could become.

At this point, the coaches' last friend enters the scene, from above.

"Dear friends, how lovely to see you grouped together. I noticed someone freezing over here and felt instantly drawn."

"Ah", Isaac stutters, "that …that…. must have been me..."

"Yes, yes, I see, don't worry, eventually we will all melt into new, yet recognizable forms…. ha ha."

In every dimension, the shape of this figure repeats itself infinitely. Isaac remembers his own drawings of clouds as a young child. Amazingly, there did not seem to be a child in the world misrepresenting clouds. This captured Isaac’s attention since there were so many details that other children never were able to picture in a way similar to Isaac’s rather evolved visual intelligence.

"Did I interrupt your conversation...?", the cloud asks thoughtfully.

“Yes", Stardust replies, "I just asked this young man to tell us more about his inner fire."

"Ah, your personal signature…. I can tell you a bit about this. Do not be afraid you won't find your inner fire. It’s in everything that you do, that you feel, that you think. You know, nature is made up of complex patterns that repeat themselves ad infinitum. Regardless of how much we zoom in on who you are, your inner fire will be expressed by every single cell. The only thing you have to do, is to be yourself. This way, you will be so self-similar, that you will certainly express yourself just the way you are, ha ha."

The metaphysics of his answer made Isaac remember the beauty of fractal-like nature. It was as if his mind was opened once again by the higher order insight of which this cloud reminded him. He could hear himself think and feel so clearly. It was as if these figures spoke his language - full of metaphors, symbols, fascinating facts, and rich, textured meaning in which past, present and future are infinitely interconnected, and everything on the microscale reflects life on the macroscale.

Similarly, however finite these phenomena essentially are, there is no small talk here, everything expresses an abundance of meaning and interconnection. Isaac feels grateful, it is clear to him that he needed to take a step away from his personal perspective, feel connected with being more than a human being, to actually sense his unique humanity again. While a tear falls from his cheek, the cloud dissipates into heart-relieving rain, stardust finally fully falls to the ground, washed away by the rain, leaving no visible trace, and the trunk of the tree erodes almost completely.  

Change is always happening.

Meanwhile in the forest, the temperature has dropped significantly. After some time passes,  his coach walks into the forest, suggesting they make a campfire together. While throwing wood logs on top of one another, Isaac notices the fire salamander fleeing hastily into the forest, climbing up a nearby tree.  

Part 3

"Tell me, how was your meeting?"

"In a strange way, every single encounter has made me remember who I am. It made me re-member, in the sense that I feel connected once more to both all human and all non-human. I think this has taught me to care again for this world. Even though these creatures were all very, very old, I felt like they were speaking to me from a future which we should long for, which has not yet arrived, yet which is possible. By mirroring their wisdom, I feel compelled to see our world anew and to accept our journey here as one filled with uncertainties, interdependencies, and transformations.

"And…what kind of future do you long for, Isaac?"

"You know…I have a dream...that someday...human beings will take into account multispecies’ wellbeing. I have the dream that we will invest our ability for empathy, compassion and creativity into the understanding and representation of our interconnection with everything non-human. That we give voice to all species, a diversity of human and non-human voices which highlights the active participation of all species in one other’s wellbeing. How do we collaborate with other species? Of course, we already do, but it is our challenge in the 21st Century to perceive this collaboration as the foundation of our life.

My personal development must be connected to the wellbeing of other sentient beings. Leadership is nothing if it is not on behalf of the planet. I now see that all of life is sentient in its own mysterious ways, and I want to teach others these insights.  Maybe I knew all along, but I just did not dare to share this wisdom. Self-acceptance must now be transformed into environmental action. There is not much time left, but the giftedness of our natural world deserves my full devotion. This is not solely about fulfilling my potential, nor solely about survival, this is about acknowledging the value of life at every, even unimaginably tiny or grand scale.

Life is such an exceptionally living thing.

We should respect the interest and autonomy of other species. We should continuously strive to understand their interests and our interconnection, learn to speak their languages, be responsive towards those indicators that tell us how our environment is doing. We must adapt our behavior wisely and be in dynamic balance with nature. A common concern for the whole community should be the inspiration for our developing values system.

My eyes are not yet accustomed to this reopened perception, I will have to experiment repeatedly. With every action this new perception will be tested and fine-tuned. I will have to struggle existentially and learn along the way how to recognize other voices in this new language in the making.

"Okay, now go out into the world and be your wonderful gifted, interconnected self!"

And before Isaac even says goodbye, he runs into the forest, disappearing in the wood wide web.