"I am constituted by love. I survive because I am related to other beings. I am totally and completely dependent. On this soil. This land. My family. My friends. My collaborators. My readers. Although I cannot always tangibly, materially give back. I give my words, my breath to you. I am constituted by Ghost Pipe, right now, looking at her in the wild woodland behind my friend’s home. I am here, radically attached to everyone and everything. Although I eat differently, live differently, look differently, love differently than other people, I am still a member of the forest. She teaches me that I do not need to prove that I am worthy of love."
Sophie Strand
Ghost Pipe, Illness, and Mycoheterotrophy