If trees could talk, the conversation might go like this:

“Hello.”

“Hello.”

“You appear to be a tree.”

“As do you.”

“I love you.”

“And I, you.”

And then they stand there. Rooted. Grounded. Flourishing in all of their essence. Because life is love.

Without human insecurities projected onto life, we can all simply be. Being together. Living a life of love.

~

April 26, 2019, is Arbor Day in the United States. It’s celebrated at different times of the year around the world, depending on local seasons and temperatures.

Traditionally, it is a time for planting trees and giving life back to the earth that sustains us. It is a time where we can celebrate trees and the important role they play in our environment.

It boggles my mind that everyone knows when the more commercial holidays are coming, but the days intended for honoring our natural world tend to slip by. It mimics the way that nature is constantly fueling life, but our attention largely seems to be elsewhere—it’s no wonder our natural world is under threat of destruction.

Where attention goes, energy flows. If our attention is distracted from our life force, where is that energy going?

Trees are an amazing embodiment of life. You can learn so much by sitting quietly and listening to a tree. Call me crazy, but I do believe they speak. At the very least, the act of listening can allow our overactive minds to quiet for a bit in the grounding presence of a tree.

We can also zoom out to the bigger ecological picture and find a world of wonder. Suzanne Simard’s research on symbiotic plant communication points to complex networks of resource sharing—networks that mimic our own human neural and social networks. Her TED Talk, “How Trees Talk To Each Other,” altered my perception of what goes on beneath the surface of what we are seeing and experiencing. It points to the wisdom of the interconnected universe that we share.

“Through back and forth conversations, [trees] increase the resilience of the whole community.” ~ Suzanne Simard

Yes, we now have a better understanding of how trees talk to one another—but what if we each had a better understanding of our own nature by being in this kind of deep communion with trees?

In honor of Arbor Day and the sources of life that create a harmonious world, I encourage you to plant a tree. (If you do, please make sure it’s a tree that reinforces the specific ecosystem.) But if you can’t do that, then you can always find one to be with.

Listen to it. And experience the love you can receive.

~