Growth
Growth Rings: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dendrochronology (reference I need to add)
Growth Rings
1. a layer of wood formed in a plant during a single period of growth. Growth rings are visible as concentric circles of varying width when a tree is cut crosswise. They represent layers of cells produced by vascular cambium.
2. a similar layer in a part of an animal marking a period of growth.
Growth rings, also known as tree rings or annual rings are seen in the cut trunk of a tree. Each ring is visually seen as a circular, organic form resulting from new growth in the vascular cambium, where a layer of tissue under goes secondary growth.
The gap or distance between each visible ring is dependent on the speed of the trees growth over the annual seasons, therefore one growth ring often symbolises a Human year (or close to) of the life of the tree.
Over the entire life of a tree, a ring pattern is formed showing a Human year-by-year record of the trees life. This pattern reflects the climatic conditions in which the tree grew throughout the changing annual seasons. A wide growth ring often shows a season of high moisture levels; a narrow growth ring may suggest a drought season and fluctuating poor and favorable conditions can result in several growth rings forming in one Human year.
A Humans lifecycle is defined by age and with age comes a life experience and a form of wisdom. A Beings lifecycle is defined by the gaining of applied knowledge (experience) and with this applied knowledge comes growth rings.
These growth rings are a way of representing significant experiences or “events” that form a Beings life, a Being can only develop a growth ring when it is connected with a human.
When a Being meets a Human and forms a relationship, the Beings knowledge becomes applied as the Being and Human become intimate with one another. A new growth ring will emerge with each significant or overwhelming experience that they encounter together, leaving a ring on the Being unseen to the Human eye and a physical mark on the spine of the Human. The extent of the experience will define the size, width and shape of the growth ring and the gap between each growth ring will depend purely on the time passed between each experience, the level of intimacy in the Being and Human relationship will weigh largely on how often these experiences occur.
It is assumed that every time a Being forms a new Human connection this is considered a significant event and a growth ring will form. A Being would therefore most likely have multiple growth rings at a “young” age, as a “young” Being would switch Human friends often and form multiple connections just as a young Human does. Most Beings will then eventually settle on a long time companion.
If a Being allowed a Human to see their growth rings, the Human could form an idea of the life that Being had lived, each growth ring tells its own story.
Human Cells: http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/on-line/lifecycle/ (reference I need to add)
Human Cells
1. a usually microscopic structure containing nuclear and cytoplasmic material enclosed by a semipermeable membrane.
2. the smallest structural unit of an organism that is capable of independent functioning, consisting of one or more nuclei, cytoplasm, and various organelles.
A Human body is made up of 100 million cells. Some of these cells are rarely replaced where as others are constantly replaced. Existing cells within the Human body can multiply to make new ones when repair is necessary but each cell can only multiply a certain number of times before the cell dies.
Harmful molecules are continually causing damage to cells in the Human body. When the cells are younger they are growing faster and it is easier for them to self replace, self repair and “bounce” back when the cell is damaged. As time passes and age begins to show, these processes slow down, deteriorate and become less efficient until Human cells can no longer self repair or renew. The amount of times a cell can renew depends on telomeres. When a cell multiplies into new cells, the telomere zone at the end of each chromosome shortens, once the telomeres reaches a certain length the cell cannot divide further and the cell dies. The only cells to escape this fate are those designed for Human reproduction. As Human cells begin to die and become damaged, signs of aging occur in and on the Human body.
A Beings growth rings work much like Human cells. Each individual Being is different. With every new growth ring the Being develops, that experience is “auto-saved” or “cached” into the Beings outer knowledge to be held as part of its library of data. This is the Beings only form of “back-up”, if a growth rings becomes harmed the “auto-saved” ring is able to replace, renew or repair the growth ring where necessary.
After so many growth rings have been formed and “auto-saved” and then repaired, the growth rings reach a point where the inner applied knowledge (the growth rings) and the outer library of data have grown so closely together that a final overwhelming experience is too much for the Being to form a new growth ring. The Being will then die and leave behind some parts of its former growth rings to form a new library of data; this new library of data would be best described as the Beings child.
