Hello,
My name is Maggie Stevens and this is an essay entitled A Reflection on Trees.
On a recent early morning walk,
I was struck by the beauty of our neighborhood trees as they held the pastel pinks of morning in their branches.
I began to reflect how trees are different than most other creatures that are gifted with the ability to flee danger.
Trees cannot run away.
They have to stay put and face whatever nature brings.
They are champions of stamina and resilience.
Of course,
They didn't start out that way.
The cone of the mighty sequoias,
One of the largest beings on the planet,
Is the size of a small chicken egg and the hundreds of seeds contained in it are smaller than grains of rice.
In this condition,
They are all possibility and potential.
Trees learn from their environment and the seasons.
During winter,
They pull back all their energy to their roots,
Let go of their leaves,
And hunker down for the season.
In arid climates,
They store water so efficiently that our ancestors learned to seek them out to drink from them in the desert.
Most of us have seen trees bent by the prevailing winds,
Bent but not broken.
The rings inside a tree tell the history of its life,
Thin tight circles laid down in hard times and thick ones in times of abundance.
Our own belief in individualism might lead us to believe that trees are loners,
But science tells us the opposite is true.
Trees live in communities.
Tree roots are deep and extend out in a wide net.
Scientists share that trees communicate hormonally,
Chemically,
And electrically through their roots in a network that is elegantly called a fungi filigree.
This pattern is much like our own neural networks.
Trees warn other trees about dangers in their environment,
Such as insect infestation or loggers,
Otherwise known as human infestations.
A mother tree sends sugar for growth out to its seedlings in her shadow of its canopy in order to give them a better chance of survival.
Amazingly,
Before a tree dies,
It transfers its nutrients out to the community.
Lastly,
When a tree falls to the forest floor,
It nourishes other plants and becomes home to many creatures.
Trees are not loners,
Nor hang out only with their own kind.
The healthiest and most successful forests are the most diverse.
Trees can be our mentors to remind us of the values of both community and altruism.
We can learn a lot from trees.
We can grow where we're planted and not try and run away from all that life brings.
We can stay embodied.
When tough times come,
As they always do,
We can stop spending our energy and pull it back to our core and access our inner resources.
While we are individuals,
We also live in community,
And it is with community that we can face our difficulties.
We can check on neighbors,
Cook for a friend,
We can write letters or call loved ones.
We can stay in our bodies by cooking,
Cleaning,
Fixing,
Planting,
Creating,
Dancing or walking.
Get outside and commune with our neighbors and the mentors,
The trees.
John Muir said,
The clearest way into the universe is through a forest wilderness.
So I invite you,
Go walking and listen.
I hope you enjoyed this talk.
You can find more of my writings at www.
Metamindfulness.
Com.
Thank you for listening.
