Today's observation medication I'm taking directly from my journal with no editing (although I must admit it is VERY hard to rewrite this without doing so.) I wrote this after spending many hours just wandering and enjoying the beauty of Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest with Jason.
There are no words I can write to describe what a magical place it is. I felt like a child trying to savor everything and I ended up taking over 200 photos while in the woods so I wouldn't be able to forget it.
6/11/11 entry:
Joyce Kilmer is beautiful.
The trees are large, but not as large as the sequoahs, but mighty and wise in their own right.
The forest has magic.
The Floor is lined with wild flowers and ferns.
It is an old wood.
A loved wood.
There are these two trees that stand near the center, side by side.
I imagine them as the grandmother and grandfather trees.
They gave birth to all that we saw and became today.
These wise trees know the humans come and marvel at them and wonder what they think of them.
They have no words for the humans.
In their silence, they teach them to STOP.
Be fierce.
Stand firm.
Be able to sway with the breezes that blow.
Be flexible and always growing.
To always reach for more.
To reach for more joy.
The trees are wise.
They understand the cycle of living and dying and never living on your own, but in communion with all that is around you.
They understand dying and leaving this world to become something new.
They know how to bring up what once was inside of themselves.
They remember all they have ever known.
They understand standing still.
They welcome the life that grows all around them and they teach that precious life to stand up and reach for the sun!
They teach those sweet plants their role in the cycle of life so they can grow to be whole and appreciate the opportunity they have been given.
The trees have no secrets because they are pure.
They act from their heart and when they are hurt they don't look for something else outside of themselves to do the work of healing, they do it themselves. If they aren't able, they fall over because they know this is how life works. We fall over until we get it right.
The trees understand that branches have to sometimes be shed when they are no longer serving their purpose to help them to continue to reach for the sun.
They fall away to become something old becoming something new.
These wise trees have strong limbs that are always reaching for more.
These trees understand the importance of reproduction and life being given and repeating and teaching what is important.
Trees know life is a gift that can be taken at any moment, so we must always be ready and creating so that we can leave an image of our love here for us to remember and to help others to stay awake!
The trees understand stillness.
Of quiet.
Of listening.
They understand when we breathe and when we reach we open our hearts to become.
Grandmother and Grandfather tree taught me much today.
May this be a reminder for all the beauty and joy I experienced and may my light shine brighter and my spirit sing the lessons the trees have taught me.
Aho.
