Three parts here of an interesting post!

A post introduction, a lesson in nature and a final word about who we are and what we do should sum it all up!

A flower talks of beauty, peace and love!

This flower is what we offer as a symbol of our sincere appreciation to each and every soul that stood and still stands by us during our journey here. To all of those special ladies and also of course the guys. Yes, we all started at another place and we all endured some trauma at the unforeseen events, but, and here's the big but, we all carried on. Why? Simply because life has trained us as soldiers!

Come, let's have a look at what nature shows us here!

I picked this piece of a branch up under a tree in our garden this morning to have a closer look at it. Do you know what the grey "flowers" are ?

Here's a better look at it and the grey stuff is definitely not flowers!

Yeah right if you knew, it is a grey composite named "Lichen"

What Is Lichen?

"First, although lichen grows and looks plant-like, it’s not a plant. Instead, lichen is the result of a symbiotic relationship between a fungus and an alga or a cyanobacterium, and often one other organism as well. Over 6% of the earth’s surface is estimated to be covered by lichens. There are over 20,000 different kinds, and they come in a variety of colors and shapes. They are found on every continent, from humid forests to frozen areas and desert sands".

And so in the right conditions lichen grows on trees. But is lichen harmful to trees?

No, lichen is harmless and the good message that lichen shows us is that it loves to grow in clean air!

Lichen is self-sustaining

" It doesn’t take any nutrients from the tree that it’s on and therefore doesn’t harm the tree (although some people consider it unsightly). It gets all of the nutrients it needs from rain and the surrounding air. Because lichen is not a plant, it doesn’t have roots; rather than burrowing into the bark, it attaches to the bark surface. In other words, the lichen is not harming your tree."

"Surprisingly, lichen actually has several benefits".

"It’s a natural air quality indicator – it absorbs everything in the environment around it, but only thrives when the air quality is clean. In fact, scientists use lichen as a measure of air quality in different geographic areas. It also converts carbon dioxide to oxygen and absorbs any pollutants that are in the area".

[Source](https://www.independenttree.com/is-lichen-on-trees-harmful/)

The lesson that nature teaches here

I see the tree as a blockchain and us as the lichen. We all attach to the blockchain and grow from all of the external experiences that each of us attract. We need clean air to grow and that's why we have all migrated to Hive. During our growth, we can also remove all pollutants in Hive and convert it into clean air. In our own ways and diversities, we are all one organic growth, that are supposed to complement each other!

Please let me have your thoughts on this!

Finally

Just a brief illustration about what we do at The Papillon Foundation, aka @papilloncharity.

She has her whole life in those bags and is totally dependent on the goodwill of others!

He uses his talents to make his own way in life!

Papillon's mission is to form a bridge between the two illustrations above.

To help people to discover the talents that they never knew that they had in order to feed themselves and their families. Yes, we also run other projects such as feeding, old age homes, disabled children and orphans, but the education factor lies the closest to my heart. There is no better reward than to see a person, previously down and out, changed and making a new life for themselves!

I know I said "Finally" above, but let me leave you with this thought!

This chopper has some missing parts and yet it flies!

Just so are all of us, as there is no one that is perfect and yet we cope in life. Granted, some of us have a few more parts missing than others, and we struggle, but still we cope somehow.

Just as that helicopter is one, we are all one. Just as that chopper has a bunch of mechanics to help it fly, we should all be helping each other to cope!

Note: All photos are my own, unedited and only cropped for uploading purposes. The "Lichen" information in (inverted commas "") source was duly cited.

Camera used: Canon Powershot SX60HS.

We hope that you have enjoyed the post and thank you for the visit to @papilloncharity.

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