Nature vs. Nurture

Every tree is different.
Some are tall, strong, and flourishing with many branches of foliage and fruit.
Some are weak, small, and withering with few branches to boast.
Some share a forest, mingling with other trees of all shapes, sizes, age, and color while some stand alone, cold and exposed to the elements.
Of the tallest and mightiest oaks, every branch is a creation in itself with individual beauty and flaws that add to the tree’s strength.
Some branches are broad and strong producing many new branches, offering fruit and welcoming shade, while some remain bare.
The broad productive branches produce life and grant the tree with longevity, though they are not without knots and some less fruitful extensions.
The bare branches, while appearing to be non-contributors, are often the power and support behind the more outwardly productive limbs.
Some branches are lovely and lush, beautiful to the eye while hiding a diseased core that will spread through the entire creature if not cut or treated in time.
Meanwhile, some branches are twisted and broken, hiding that they are the ones who might offer the most fun.
All twist and tangle together while also going their separate ways, never denying the core of why they are connected in the first place.
Some even allow the branches of other trees to intertwine with its own without acknowledging they don’t extend from the same core.
The mighty trunk reigns supreme with all its command and nurturing, never putting thought to hiding it’s imperfections. Instead, it uses them to create homes for other souls.
The tree, as a whole, retains one common bond: this being would never climb to its great heights if there were no roots to do its groundwork.
Still, away from this forest, in a barren field stands that weak and withering tree.
Its branches, few and sparse, are fragile and crumbling, not strong enough to withstand the conditions that a solitary life brings.
Its foliage is brown, breaking with the slightest changes and it offers no fruit or shade.
The limbs are too weak to support themselves, much less each other, and its core is hollow and home to no one.
This tree will fail in time, as its disease and simple lack of command spread to the ground below.
Nothing grows in its presence; nothing is nourished by its unacknowledged gift of life.
All trees are open to disease.
The tiniest parasite, though born of the very same earth, can cause even the strongest trees to fall, but nurture can allow a small seed to never stop growing.