026 Let It Roll Off
Hey Peepal, the long tail at the tip of your leaf drains the rain off fast, so you dry quickly after every shower.
What do we let roll off, and what do we hold on to?
What do you let roll off you, and what do you hold on to?
After a monsoon shower, look at a peepal tree. Each heart-shaped leaf ends in a long, thin tail.
Watch the drops. They slide down the leaf, gather at the tip and fall.
What really happens
That long tail is called a drip tip. It helps rain run off the leaf quickly, so the leaf dries faster after every shower.
A leaf that stays wet for too long is more likely to grow mould and other troubles. The drip tip lets the rain do its work and then go.
How we know: A 2023 study in Nature Communications examined exactly how the peepal leaf's drip tip sheds water.
The turn
Every day, small things fall on us: a rude comment, a delayed reply, a bad mood in the room.
We can let them soak in, or we can let them roll off.
Three takeaways
- Not everything that lands on you has to stay.
- Small things left to sit can grow into big ones.
- Let the rain do its work, and then let it go.
Let it fall. You are a peepal leaf.
Take away thy opinion, and then there is taken away the complaint, "I have been harmed." Take away the complaint, "I have been harmed," and the harm is taken away.