Imagine the richness of a forest.
Any forest you would like.
Maybe you can picture a forest that you live near or in.
Maybe you have a favorite forest.
Imagine the richness of a forest.
Walk through this forest or snowshoe or hike or cross-country ski or run.
Travel through this forest and notice the complexity.
In a forest there are many things growing.
Ecosystems and decay,
New life,
Growth,
Breakage,
Animals,
Sounds,
Smells,
Textures.
This forest is for you to explore.
Notice whatever you would like about this forest.
You might not know everything about this forest,
But you can still travel through it.
You might like to have a companion to travel with you.
You can imagine whoever you'd like if you want someone with you on your journey through this forest.
Maybe you'd like to be alone with nature.
Nature can be good company.
Find a place within this forest to rest.
You might like to sit or lie down.
You might like to climb a tree or find a patch of sunlight.
Wherever you're called,
Go there and rest.
As you rest in the forest,
Feel the reassurance the forest has to offer you.
The forest notices you just as you notice it.
There is a natural reciprocity in the forest.
You are being witnessed in a good way,
In a welcoming,
Accepting way.
And if you choose,
You can welcome and accept the forest around you.
As you rest in this special spot in the forest,
Travel within.
Find the forest within you,
Your own natural complexity or perhaps simplicity.
Whatever your inner forest is,
Notice it.
Notice what grows inside of you in a wild and foresty way.
Notice how the forest within allows for everything.
Everything belongs in the forest.
Even the plants that are negotiating their way through introduced in a different way than the native plants.
Everything in the forest within is finding its way.
Allow for this.
Allow for the insight and wisdom of your own personal forest,
The moss,
The leaves,
The evergreen needles,
The branches,
The mushrooms,
The dirt,
The rock,
And all the creatures big and small.
It's okay to allow for complexity.
It makes for a whole universe that holds all of this,
The microcosm of within and the macrocosm stretching out expansively,
Not really knowing where the boundary is,
Probably not knowing where the inner boundary is either.
Allowing for such inward reflection and outward reflection allows us the grace,
The liberation of not knowing.
It's a gift not to know.
Not knowing can keep us open to new answers,
New insights,
And new voices.
What do the voices of the young say about the problems of today?
What do the elders say about their experience and time on this earth?
What does everyone else say moving through this world with endless questions?
It's okay to have answers.
It's okay not to have answers.
One possibility is we're here for the experience.
We're here to notice,
Oh this part is dark and I feel shame.
What happens if I let the branches part and some light comes through to lighten this place,
Even for a moment,
This place within me,
This place in the woods?
We need light and dark.
We need all of the emotions.
We need sometimes not to know.
And when we do know,
We need to use that knowledge wisely for ourselves and others.
Our knowledge is a gift to be offered lovingly,
Compassionately,
Empathetically,
And with openness for everything that's not known.
It keeps us humble not to know.
What if we knew everything and who would that person be who did?
All of us don't know things.
That's okay.
We're all part of the forest.
You
