The Traveling Plant: Preparatory Logbook

George Gessert

Iris

Eugene, Oregon, USA
Artist

Over the course of your lifetime, which may last for centuries, you do not need to move more than a few inches from where you germinated. But humans now have another plan for you. You will travel. You will encounter new qualities of light, unfamiliar climates, gatherings of plants brought together by money, ideas, and dreams, and exotic microorganisms. Some of these are dangerous. It is possible your journey will end in death, but do not be afraid. If death arrives, you will experience nothing: no light or darkness, heat or cold, no pleasure or pain, no dreams. Already you embody elements of death’s non-experience. You are not sentient, which can be confusing for us humans because we identify with sentience. We have difficulty comprehending life without it, but your existence is proof that life is far richer and more complex than we think. Your silence is a blessing. Your way of being brings us calm and pleasure. If we are lucky, as you travel we will learn from you.