What's a phytoncide? Any guesses? It's a WILD word - one that can take us out of our comfortable "knowns" and into the realm of wonder. Don't look it up yet!
Remember being a kid or learning a new language, and trying to assimilate vocabulary lists? We often begin our learning with new letters, new words. We want to have a handy dictionary as we travel abroad. Travel can be an adventure, or somewhat scary, depending upon our ability to navigate the language barrier. The same is true of our exploration and relationships with the natural world. The barriers to communication can be daunting. So, what's a phytoncide? (Don't look it up yet!) Any ideas?
Real life requires a flexible dictionary. Maybe Miriam-Webster's or Wixtionary - yes, but also a personal language bank born of our own creative expression. We need a dynamic language art form - one that is effervescent - and malleable enough to handle evolving experiences, relationships, and dreams. What a joy it is when I read or hear a wild word that is new to me, or a neologism - a newly-coined word - that fills a gap in our experience with precision and nuance! It makes me go deeper to explore how words are planted in our psyche (soul), and how they take root and grow into various related iterations - like so many fractal shoots on a stem. And it challenges me to grow, to learn, to become more adept at deepening connections in all facets of life.
WILD words like "phytoncide" (don't look it up yet!) reach out into the chasms of confusion and ignorance that separate us and draw us together in an embrace of shared meaning and exploration. How does this work?
Creation does this perpetual motion dance with the wild and the weird quite naturally. Life forms that can learn and adapt to what is new and changing tend to thrive, and in turn, benefit the whole eco-system. The better we all adapt, the more resilient our collective tensile strength, like a well-spun web.
What about us? Do we have an aversion or an attraction to wild words, ideas, or world-views that are "funny sounding," or "foreign," or just new to us, perhaps like the word "phytoncide?" (Don't look it up yet!) Do the wild words weird us out or make us wonder?
Words can unlock doors, heal what is broken and messy, and empower us when we most need them. "Use your words," we teach our kids. Rightly so. Words are among the most ancient and potent elixirs for wounded souls, which is why poets and troubadours souse themselves in language arts. They're not afraid to let the wild words ride out to the edges of our imagination. They penetrate the soul. But we don't need to be poets to let a wild word deepen our imagination, awareness, and our zest for life.
Take the word "phytoncide," for example. What is a phytoncide? (Hang on just a moment longer!) As a geeky word nerd from my youth, I love tracing etymological trails to find origin stories for our words. And this wild word is a wondrous gem!
Here's the big reveal: "Phytoncide," first coined in 1928 by Russian biochemist Boris P. Tokin, is described an antimicrobial volatile organic compound emitted by plants to defend against decay or attack by herbivores.
Why do we/should we care?
For those who are nature enthusiasts, this is one of biochemistry's great wild words if you love walking in the woods, breathing, or living. From the Greek, phyton means "plant," and the Latin, caedere, "to kill." Phytoncides are found in many plants and trees and have antibacterial and antifungal qualities which fight disease. When we breathe in phytoncides, our bodies respond - a kind of natural call and refrain - by increasing the number and activity of a type of white blood cell called "NK," "natural killer" cells. NK cells kill tumor- and virus-infected cells in our bodies. They are natural guardians of health and wholeness. Phytoncides are our fierce, fierce friends!
Out walking for a breath of fresh air among the trees is one of those experiences for me that eclipses my knowledge of the word "phytoncide." I actually have a nick-name - "forest nectar" - but it doesn't matter. Just knowing a bit about phytoncides actually deepens my experience and love of my relationship with the trees, plants, and all my arboreal kin. They are surrounding and protecting us when we walk among them. Just by walking outside and breathing among our arbor elders and plant kin, we are protected and guarded from all around and within the web of life. We drink in that healing nectar, and we thrive.
"Phytoncide" for the win! If you think that one is cool, try looking up "mycelial network." Wild words are delicacies for the soul!
Comentários