See Me

See me.

I am standing here.

I’m sitting in my car in a parking lot, waiting on my daughter when the shaggy, shortleaf pine got my attention.

It is standing three stories tall, sandwiched between two run-down mill houses. Three limbs at the crown stretch towards the sky and the rest of the branches bend and curl out from the trunk below. The needles soften the tree’s appearance, and with the wavy branches, give it a feminine feel. From where I am parked, I have it in my direct line of sight and it’s calling to me.

Do you hear me? See me for the being that I am. I am like you. Real. That’s what I want people to know.

Real meaning not imagined. As in “you are not imagining that you are having a conversation with a tree.” Although, tell too many people you talk to trees and you may get labeled as a little crazy.

Why is it so hard for everyone to believe in tree consciousness or trees as sentient beings?

In Peter Wohlleben’s New York Times best seller, The Hidden Life of Trees, he argues that trees are “wonderful beings” with innate adaptability, intelligence and the capacity to communicate with—and heal—other trees.

Other trees.

This pine wants to take it one step further and say trees have the capacity to communicate with us too.

We are kind of like your pets. People could treat us like pets. We have a consciousness. We are not the same as that brick building next to you but that is how we are perceived.

Consciousness. Not everyone is ready to go there yet. Yale Environment 360 interviewed Peter Wohlleben and the interviewer stated, “You have been criticized for attributing emotions to trees. Scientists usually avoid such language.”

Peter Wohlleben has been criticized for anthropomorphism and so has scientist, Dr. Monica Gagliano. Dr. Gagliano claims to have had interactions with trees that some people would label delusional. Recently, I’ve seen several news articles that show more scientists are waking up to the idea that there is more going on in the tree world than we first realized, but there’s still a bunch of people who don’t buy the idea that plants are conscious.

See me. See me in my glory, in my being. See me.

Why is it so hard to believe?

Trees are life forms and while they don’t appear to have a brain in the same form as humans and animals do, they do have a highly developed neural system. I admit I get frustrated by the debate. What if we just accept that we don’t know all there is to know? Science is important, yes. But what if we just lean into the mystery of life?

We don’t know what we don’t know.

And that’s ok.

What I do know is what I’ve experienced. I’ve also witnessed the experiences of those who have come on forest bathing walks with me. Whether it’s in words, images, reflections, or sensations, the trees are communicating with us.

Start listening to us. We have a lot to say.

Forest Love,

Julie

I have learned a lot from trees:

sometimes about the weather,

sometimes about animals,

sometimes about the Great Spirit.

—Walking Buffalo