Respite from urban routine

THE FOREST

The forest is a process of inter-relatedness . . .
We must have forest areas that are never touched . . .
We must never extinguish that heritage.
-Merv Wilkinson

In forests, one can feel the interconnectedness of everything-humans, animals plants, winds, oceans, all that is.

Each forest has its own unique blend of trees, soil, air, bugs, plants and animals. We can literally smell the differences in forests. 

They each look different in size, shape and color. 

Some forests have trees that soar high; others grow closer to the ground. 

Some are so dry that they seem to invite fires. 

Others are wet, as if they were brothers to the ocean-rain forests. 

Some forests are so tightly packed that they block out the sun, as the giant redwoods in northern California do. 

Others are as spacious, allowing for amply sun. Forests are as individual and as alive as groups of humans.

Forests cover, going up into the sky and down into the soil, connecting these two distinct worlds. 

Forests breed life and they digest. 

It can be great fun to spend a night in a forest and even sleep on its floor. 

Our ancestors used to sleep in forests regularly, the forest provides a soft bed of leaves on which to relax and rest deeply. 

When we lose forests we lose contact with life.

Allow a forest to unfold before you in your imagination. 

Go into that forest, perhaps an ancient one and walk through it feeling and listening. 

There is much to see, much to hear and much more to feel.

__________________

Wayne Kritsberg, John Lee and Shepherd Bliss, A Quiet Strength Meditations on the Masculine Soul, (New York: Bantam Books, Sept 1994)