Mycelium: Connectivity, Compassion, Caring
“Mycelium”, Pen and Ink, 2025, 6”w x 8 1/4”
Artwork by Mary Lou Dauray
We are all related — everything, everybody.
I am very disturbed about the damage caused by this current crop of top US government officials. It seems incomprehensible that I am witnessing major disruptions and forcible breaking up of families; threats to the care of everyone’s health; unhinged denial of climate problems; and seemingly lack of compassionate thinking about the common good for people and the planet.
In the Mycelium artwork pictured above, you can see an imagined understory web of fungal filaments under the earth connecting, supporting and benefitting the trees, the mountains and the earth. I then imagined a human mycelium network – an overstory of similar collectivity that branches out, touching and energizing humans.
Interestingly, humans share a significant amount of DNA with fungi, with some estimates suggesting nearly 50% of our genetic material. In other words, on a genetic level, fungi are more closely related to humans than they are to plants. According to many scientists, this is because both humans and fungi evolved from a common ancestor that developed multicellularity long ago, resulting in shared genetic traits.
While doing my research about mycelium, I came upon a web site called “The Octopus Movement” whose aim is to create a better balance between humanity and nature by promoting a sense of connection among people. The Octopus Movement’s Human Mycelium concept draws an analogy between the mycelial networks formed by fungi and the interconnectedness of human beings. While creating the artwork I sensed that if some filaments were bad, and negatively affected those connected, the surrounding threads would choose to leave the festering area and create new pathways.
Dear reader: Try to bypass the festering rot and create new connections, join communities and make or renew contacts with the goal of supporting the growth of compassion, caring and concern. We have a responsibility to aid and help those most vulnerable. Even in this disturbing time, meaningful connections can and should be made.
“The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.” – Franklin Roosevelt
I would add not bullying or demeaning people nor despoiling nature.
The true meaning of connection often involves genuine understanding, empathy and mutual support. These ideals of connectivity and caring are found in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, Emma Lazarus’s poem affixed to the Statue of Liberty, FDR’s second inaugural address, and Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” sermon at the 1963 March on Washington. These beliefs connect us with previous generations of Americans who risked everything — some of whom sacrificed their lives — to preserve democracy and achieve a greater good.
Be well. Until next time.
Mary Lou
Art Tip:
“To practice any art, no matter how well or how badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake”. – Kurt Vonnegut
I encourage you to follow your visions and bring them into your artwork. The effort you make will energetically be absorbed by those who observe your art. Also, do not hesitate to show your art.
A fun painting material to use are pots of watercolor crystals called BRUSHO. These crystals are transparent, intermixable, incredibly vibrant and highly pigmented. They are acid free, nontoxic, VOC and Oil free.
Resources:
The Octopus Movement (theoctopusmovement.org)
Popular Mechanics (popularmechanics.com) Article: “Fungal ‘Brains’ can think like human minds”.
Sciencedirect.com for articles on fungal ecology.
Brusho Crystal Watercolors from Sheffield, England.
Please note that there are growing doubts about the true role of the common mycorrhizal networks (CMN or wood wide web) connecting the roots of trees in forests. Sciencedirect.com