The Wisdom of Trees
Healthy Mindset – -Days 68-73
With so much to take in right now, I wanted to share a little bit of inspiration.
One day when you wake, you will find that you have become a forest. You have grown roots and found strength in them that no one thought you had. You have become stronger and more beautiful, full of life giving qualities. You have learned to take all the negativity around you and turn it into oxygen. A host of wild creatures live inside you and you call them stories. A variety of beautiful birds rest inside your mind and you call them memories. You have become an incredible self sustaining thing of epic proportions. And you should be so proud of yourself, of how far you have come from the seeds of who you used to be.
Nikita Gill, You Have Become a Forest
On Saturday’s morning’s walk around the Nicolle Flats Interpretive Area, a guy who was running with his dog stopped to talk and said the Nicolle Homestead was his favourite place. He was quite excited to talk about it and I thought to myself how exciting can an old homestead be? It’s not an unusual thing on the prairies.
But it was pretty special. The Nicolle Homestead dates back to 1903. Surrounded by hills and trees, it’s a beautiful, protected spot in the middle of the prairies. The tree is a perfect place for a swing, to climb, to sit and daydream or read a book and look up at the prairie sky. What an inspiring place to grow up in.
When you go out into the woods and you look at trees, you see all different trees. And some of them are bent, and some of them are straight, and some of them are evergreens, and some of them are whatever. And you look at the tree and you allow it. You appreciate it. You see why it is the way it is. You sort of understand that it didn’t get enough light, and so it turned that way. And you don’t get all emotional about it. You just allow it. You appreciate the tree.
The minute you get near humans, you lose all that. And you are constantly saying, “You’re too this, or I’m too this“. That judging mind comes in. And so I practice turning people into trees. Which means appreciating them just the way they are.
Ram Dass, on Self-Judgment
prairie girl wonders 
Ace meditation!