Consider the lichen of the Alaskan tundra.

It does not hurry – patiently weaving itself into the fabric of the earth over centuries.

It thrives in scarcity – mysteriously binding elements of air and rock into fertile soil.

It is beautiful – a fragile network of branching filaments – an analog of antlers, river tributaries, root systems.

It teaches that growth is not measured by haste, nor survival by conquest.

To persist – to take what is given and make of it somethi...