The Wisdom Of The Trees

The annual seasons profoundly affect perennial trees. Each year many species of perennial change color, release their leaves, go dormant, and then come back to life in the spring with new growth.

As humans we could learn a lot from these trees. Firstly, they are naturally in tune with the seasons. They can ebb and flow with the natural order of things.  For a season their leaves will gather up energy from the sun for growth.  They bask in the light and find nourishment. And they can do this because of their ability to release the old when the time comes.

There are times in our lives when we also need to release the old things from the past.  All our life experiences have natural course and expiry date to them.  All our relationships in this physical life are also temporary experiences. Knowing this allows us to be in the flow with the cycles of life and the afterlife.

Too often we resolutely cling to the past, which causes us to feel stuck or keeps us from developing the types of relationships and experiences we truly want.  If the trees were to hold on to their old dead leaves, there would be no room nor energy for further growth. It would be impossible for them to thrive and be nourished by the sun.

There is also no way for trees to perpetually grow. One time I planted a tree late in the season. I gave it lots of nourishment, but over the winter it died off. By fertilizing the tree, I was creating a condition that would not allow it to survive. The fall is when trees release their leaves so the wood can harden off.

Too often people want to run to the next experience, and the next experience. Or they they try to make an experience last indefinitely. They want to make the ‘summer’ of their peak human experiences last forever. They never give themselves the opportunity to let go and properly grieve what has been, in order to recenter and become stable and energized for the next spring.

It is important for us to acknowledge our actual life experiences and move through the winter seasons in a way that prepares us for the next season. There is a temptation to just keep running to the next experience or next relationship to satiate a previous painful experience. However, in doing so we create situations that are toxic and unsustainable.

Love the trees until their leaves fall off, then encourage them to try again next year ~ Chad Sugg

In the spring, when winter is finally over, the trees start off slowly with buds and then grow and bloom in an organic and natural way. They are not in a hurry, but instead take their time to flow with the unfolding of the season.

It is normal to become excited about new experiences in life, but it is also important to remember that there is a natural flow to growth. This is especially true for relationships. Too often I have talked to people who have only known someone for a few weeks and are already planning their wedding!

It also depends on what kind of an experience one wants to have. The rose bush is a good role-model for this. If you’ve ever been in a lush rose garden, you will know that the beauty and aroma can be intoxicating. However, this splendor is never developed overnight. It takes a good few years for a decent rose garden to reach lavish maturity. It also requires a lot of care and attention, including fertilizing, pruning, and mulching.

However, if one insists on quick and easy urgency, one could cultivate a thriving weed garden overnight!

Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree ~ Martin Luther

There is only one characteristic that creates successful momentum, and that is love. This is particularly true for relationships. If we are focusing our mental and emotional attention on future stories about a person or situation then we are not in a loving state. We are instead attaching emotions to some future event or outcome. The conjured images in the mind are not the actual person or relationship, which means that these emotions are not attached to reality as it is. It is not of this moment, or the current season.

This can cause all kinds of challenges, including the “ We fell out of love” or “we grew apart” scenario. Falling out of love is not possible, because love is an eternal energy and vibration. Instead, what these people are saying is that the emotional attachment they had to imagined future realities did not pan out, so they can no longer sustain the emotional experience in the present moment.

We cannot build an experience on an imagined reality. The only way to fully build an experience of meaning is to be in the flow of the seasons of life. There may be some seasons that last entire lifetimes and others for very short periods of time. Knowing how the seasons of life work is a primary way to help us get into the flow of life. Once we are in the flow, we can experience summer as nourishment to the soul.

We can learn a lot from the wisdom of the trees.