Have you ever thought about mushrooms? Like, really thought about them.

In Youth To The People’s anti-racism, inclusion, and intersectional parity training, our instructor, Sarah Springer of Tissue LLC, spoke in so many words about the benefits of decay and how it’s an essential step to growth. It brought to mind a few things: one, how sometimes a bad trip is actually really good—sometimes the stuff that feels the hardest is often the most important. And the second, a quote from artist David Altmejd who said, “I think of decay not in a negative way, but in a sense of creating space for things to start growing.”

And the third? Mushrooms. They take what needs to be decomposed, decayed, and through their root systems, their mycelium, give us new life by turning that decayed matter into fruiting bodies. Not sure what mycelium are? No worries, you’ll understand why we’re talking about them soon. And if you’ll humor us, we’d like to take that thread through our conversation today, because there’s so much we can learn from nature.

To The People Podcast is a production of YTTP Studios. Find us online at @youthtothepeople or youthtothepeople.com.