Without friction no shine, is one of my favorite sayings. I don’t know if it is also a saying in English… but in Dutch it is. Sometimes we also say: you have to go through the sour apple, we sometimes say. But that apple is only about the rough part and not about what happens afterwards. Sometimes the process you are in is the reason for something beautiful that is still to come.
Let me tell you a story about a very special cell …..
Very, very, very (really very, very, very) long time ago, there was a huge mass with all different cells. Our cell swam in the sea with all other cells. For convenience, let’s call this cell “Pete”. Pete sometimes bumped into some other cells, swallowed one, and continued with his day.
Pete wanted to get bigger, but could not generate enough energy to grow.
One day, our Pete accidentally or on purpose swallowed another cell. The swallowed cell did not perish this time, but remained alive inside Pete. Which means that our Pete suddenly gets an uninvited roommate. Let’s call him “Dan” for now. Pete does not yet know whether he should be happy with his new roommate…..
Dan turns out to be quite cheeky and feasts on Pete’s entire pantry. As a result, Dan will suddenly multiply considerably! So Pete now has not one but a lot of roommates who are enjoying his pantry!
Yet Pete does not lose hope. Dan and his little “Dans” give a lot of energy through all the food they eat. They are almost glowing! Pete had never been able to make so much energy from his pantry himself, but this energy supply means that Pete can suddenly start to grow and develop further!
Pete and all of the Dans become attached to each other over time and can no longer live without each other. Together they have become stronger.
This very simplified story is a variant of the endosymbiotic theory, how it is possible that intelligent life eventually arose over millions of years. (Would you like to know more about this, my interest started after listening to this podcast.)
The “Dans” from my story can now be found in cells as mitochondria. They ensure the energy supply in the cells and in our body. The special thing is that the DNA of our “Dans” can also be found in the cells of plants, fungi and animals.
I think that is magically beautiful, because it is a nice confirmation of how we as living beings on this planet are really all connected to each other. I inspired my new collection “Symbiose” on this idea. I am still painting but in this blog you can already see a few sneak peeks.
The reason I am telling you this story now is because our “Pete” could probably be fed up with all those annoying housemates, that there was a bit of friction at the beginning of the new situation. But in the end that friction led to something very beautiful.
I hope that this time will also bring you something beautiful, besides all the trouble. It would be nice to also share positive things with each other. If you now have a good example of something positive that you have discovered in this time, do you leave a comment below this blog?
I think it would be great to be able to restore the balance with positive news.
