Have you spoken to a tree lately? If not, perhaps take a moment and have a chat with one.
It doesn’t matter the size or shape. Just find a tree and have a talk. If you hear nothing. Imagine that you do. It opens the door to your inner ear and it will have spoken to you, even if you don’t know it yet.
Why consult a tree?
Because trees teach us how to live our lives, and even though we often ignore them, they are always on our side. Trees are always providing, always ready to lend a listening ear or extend a comforting embrace. They live without fear or worry about their success. They know their purpose, and they share it.
Trees as teachers? Yes, trees.
Without trees, life as we know it wouldn’t exist. Trees give everything of themselves, and even in what appears to be death—but is really transformation—they still provide warmth as they burn or become fertile ground for other plant beings to grow.
Trees live in communities, sharing and providing for each other. They talk to each other. They assist in times of need.
But this is the time of year when trees remind us of something essential.
The beauty of letting go.
Take a walk in the fall, and you’ll be walking into a jewel box of color as the trees wearing leaves of red, orange, yellow, and copper leaves stand against the backdrop of brilliant blue skies.
And then. Trees let all of that go.
If you are lucky enough to be outside when they all decide it’s time, you can stand under a shower of colors. And when it’s over, the trees stand bare and seemingly empty, willing and happy to show you who they are.
Trees remind us of the value of letting go of what is no longer needed, so they can spend their energy preparing for the next season. Not afraid that it won’t happen. Trusting that it will.
This year our tulip tree shared itself all over the neighborhood. We have many baby tulip trees in our yard waiting for me to give them away to new homes.
But I hadn’t realized how far she had spread her wealth until I saw a tulip tree a few feet tall in my neighbor’s garden a few blocks away. Since our tulip tree is the only one within a mile or two, I knew it had come from the tree in our yard. Soon there will be many tulip trees because she shared.
All trees do this. They share. They provide homes for creatures of all sizes and shapes. Flocks of birds descend on the dogwood outside my window, eating its berries, rustling the branches, and causing its maroon and yellow leaves to float to the ground, which then provides cover for a multitude of insects and small creatures.
Trees provide the base for other things to grow. Trees know how to share. They know how to live in community. They work together to survive our unintentional and sometimes intentional ignorance about their well-being. And as they remind us each Autumn, they know how to let go.
We are meant to be like trees, to let the roots of all that we know, have done, and experienced feed the trunk of our Life tree. From the trunk of who we are, we grow the branches of our mission into the world, sharing and helping.
And when it’s time to let go of old beliefs, we let our leaves and unneeded branches fall easily to the ground.
Using trees as our teachers, we will become better humans.
Hug a tree today. You will both benefit from it.
PS: Yes, the picture is of trees I saw on my walk today...
In our Perception Circle, we often call ourselves a community of trees. We work together in the same way as a diverse forest.
Together we discover the name of the trunk of our Life Tree and then how to effectively live as that tree. It’s a different way to see your true spiritual essence.
It’s another tool in our Shift Universe.
Check it out. We just might be your community — your forest.
BECA LEWIS coaches, teaches, writes blogs and books, plays with art, and is addicted to reading. She lives in Ohio with her husband and has kids and grandkids scattered across the country.
