Sometimes we can’t see the wood for the trees. What a strange phrase. Is it about labelling? Is it about the limitations of mind? We do need our minds to filter out information for us, but what if we mistake the filter for what’s ‘out there’?
We will, of course, do that. We can’t not. We get stuck in ways of thinking and perceiving. It’s so painful sometimes, living inside a box of our own making. A gaol, with freedom perceived to be outside of us, not part of current reality.
Jealousy, frustration, anger, sadness. All the emotions jostle for righteous expression. It’s not fair. Or maybe they’re dampened with the blanket of depression or electrified with the thought storm of anxiety. Round and round it goes.
Where is beauty while this rumination rules? Where is wonder and curiosity? Hard for these feelings to be present. What is needed? A jolt of lightning! A remembrance: we are alive. A quiet connection to another being who stands tall, has weathered many storms.
Paying exquisite attention to Birch (or Beech or Blackthorn) will set you straight. Here’s how:
- Set your intention to connect with a tree
- Go for a walk
- Notice a tree and ask if you can approach
- Feel the answer in your body
- If consent: stand quietly in front of the tree
- Notice: the colours of the bark
- the tiny eruptions
- the moss or grass
- the tender new shoots
- the tiny slits it breathes through
- the wonder you feel at this beauty
- Thank the tree for the encounter
May your heart thrub with the ache of tree love!