My last name is Holly. I've read several articles on how Holly bushes adapt to their environments. The traditional Holly leaf with its spiky points and distinctive shape is actually a response to their environment.
When a Holly bush senses that it's being nibbled on by deer and other animals, it signals and has leaves grow with spikes. And if you'll notice on tall Holly bushes and trees, often the leaves that are down low are spiky and pointy and the leaves that are up high are smooth and not spiky and pointy at all.
It's an interesting adaptation and I think it applies in my life too. For many years my environment has always been confrontational and filled with conflict. Time constraints and artificial deadlines and interplay between people and entities that created stress and turmoil made me spiky sometimes and pointy oftentimes because that's what I had to do to survive.
But now that I'm away from a lot of that and free from so many artificial deadlines and time horizons, I'm smoothing out. It's a good feeling.
I like this adaptive response to less stress.
+++
