Be the Tree
My painting of a tree with a cross section of its roots
A meditation for Stormy Times
The leaves high up on the tallest branches feel it first.
The winds blow…
sometimes the wind is gentle,
sometimes the wind is strong and fierce.
And when the storms come,
the leaves are tossed and pummeled this way and that;
they must cling tenaciously to the branches.
I imagine it’s scary up there
being whipped around by the swirling winds.
That’s how I feel when I spend too much time listening
to voices of fear,
to external voices of alarm.
Do you ever feel that way, too?
I invite you to come in from the edge
come down to the center,
to the center of the tree.
The trunk in the center of the tree
doesn’t sway so much,
doesn’t get whipped around by external forces.
Come into the center of the tree
where the sap runs strong.
Center yourself.
Now, come down even deeper...
Come into the roots of the tree,
roots are held tight by the ground around them,
roots penetrate deep into the solidness of the ground,
ground embraces roots.
Ground yourself.
Be grounded in the solidness of the earth
Mother Earth holds you,
embraces you,
wraps her solid strength around you.
Come back
and cling tenaciously
to this present moment,
to this centered moment,
to this grounded moment,
and rest in that embrace
whenever you feel the storms again.
How was that?
Do you feel grounded now? What do you do to feel grounded, to come back to your center? We need to do more of that!
Let me know in the comments!
Still need more? Join us for our next CREATIVE RESISTANCE session on Saturday, April 26th from 11:00-12:30 eastern! We’ll be smashing and twisting and scratching clay as a cathartic release in these stormy times. Clay is a great medium for exploring visceral reactions.
Click the button below for more details and registration!
We had a good turn out for last month’s CREATIVE RESISTANCE session on Recreating the Headlines. As one participant exclaimed: “It worked!” Many of us felt a release of angst and an alleviation of the helplessness that follows us around like storm clouds. I hope you can join us next time on April 26th! There are a handful of spaces left.