I adore this post Julie! Thank you for your courage to share it. And this lifted my heart: "But Thoreau reminds us to set aside objectivity once in a while. And it’s true that some part of me was in a reverie, caught by this tree’s invitation to attention." and the rest of that paragraph brought tears to my eyes. So moving Julie.✨🌟💖🙏🕊️ and p.s. Julie - please do know your own IMMENSE courage!!!
Thank you for reading and for SEEing, Camilla! This lifts my spirits. Sometimes life pulls you along whether you're ready or not. It's a bit surreal to look back from here.
I cannot imagine the heartbreak of giving back your child. Quite literally impossible to put my heart there.
Thank you for sharing the beautiful painting you gave to his mother. Maybe some day he will look at it and the rustle of his soul will remember you, and he will go to the forest and through the trees will speak to you.
We will never know.
There are few sounds as nourishing as the sound of ‘silence’ in the forest. In that place we can hear, and witness, all of eternity calling us to be.
Beautifully said, Donna. From the distance of time, it's possible to see ways that the shattering broke open new avenues. Loss has that both/and possibility, though it's often impossible to see it at the time. Necessarily, perhaps. I like the image of him in the woods, seeing a bright yellow tree and feeling at peace.
Love how you bring mention of your novel into this - and weave in the poetry - and show your vulnerability. You are so finding your voice and she is touching and inspiring.
I’m so moved by this post. As I read it, I’m looking at shiny green trees in a small city in southern India, palms, rubber trees, mango, and others I don’t know the names of. I wonder what they would say if they could talk to trees on the other side of the world.
Beautiful post! Your paintings are marvelous! We also had a birthmother change her mind while we were trying to adopt a child. That was almost 20 years ago, and we still feel a pang of emptiness. That is a rough experience. I'm sending you peace.
I’m so sorry it happened to you, too. Such a shock. They 💯downplayed the possibility beforehand and handled it about as poorly as possible during the month waiting period (state law).
As always a beautifully written post. The paintings are beautiful. I am sending a hug and compassion for your loss of the baby boy. We adopted an older child from an orphanage, and it was (and remains) a hard journey.
The trees in London are slow to turn this year, which makes me anxious. I have just returned from Switzerland, where their trees are starting to turn. I saw red squirrels busy burying their acorns, and the chestnuts covered the ground in the parks.
So much to love here. A great tree book that focuses on mycelial networks is Finding the Mother Tree, by Suzanne Simard; it would benefit from new words, as it stands accused of anthropomorphizing. Some of that, in my opinion, is refusal to see nature as cooperative, because wealthy humans benefit from the dogma that fierce competition and the requisite suffering are the only path.
Yes, yes! Well said. It’s pretty much what Sheldrake and Macfarlane are getting at when they agree we need new language. Overlaying our capitalist economic terminologies doesn’t work any more than anthropomorphizing. These beings are animate, AND wholly “other.” It’s fascinating!!
Thanks, Duane. Finally had a quiet moment to sit and really take this in. Love this - "It is not the calendar that keeps things alive but it is relationship." Just what Thoreau was saying about days of the week and clocks. It's an exciting time. I'm tempted to try writing a story that's 70% verbs and 30% nouns (as Robin Wall Kimmerer says of the Potawatomi language). It may not make sense in English. Brian Doyle is the closest I've come to an animate language sustained through an entire novel. "Mink River" is a wonder.
I adore this post Julie! Thank you for your courage to share it. And this lifted my heart: "But Thoreau reminds us to set aside objectivity once in a while. And it’s true that some part of me was in a reverie, caught by this tree’s invitation to attention." and the rest of that paragraph brought tears to my eyes. So moving Julie.✨🌟💖🙏🕊️ and p.s. Julie - please do know your own IMMENSE courage!!!
Thank you for reading and for SEEing, Camilla! This lifts my spirits. Sometimes life pulls you along whether you're ready or not. It's a bit surreal to look back from here.
"Sometimes life pulls you along whether you're ready or not." True!
These days my intention is to surf the wave of the challenge - maybe even to manage to have some fun with it!🥰
Love that.
I cannot imagine the heartbreak of giving back your child. Quite literally impossible to put my heart there.
Thank you for sharing the beautiful painting you gave to his mother. Maybe some day he will look at it and the rustle of his soul will remember you, and he will go to the forest and through the trees will speak to you.
We will never know.
There are few sounds as nourishing as the sound of ‘silence’ in the forest. In that place we can hear, and witness, all of eternity calling us to be.
Beautifully said, Donna. From the distance of time, it's possible to see ways that the shattering broke open new avenues. Loss has that both/and possibility, though it's often impossible to see it at the time. Necessarily, perhaps. I like the image of him in the woods, seeing a bright yellow tree and feeling at peace.
Love how you bring mention of your novel into this - and weave in the poetry - and show your vulnerability. You are so finding your voice and she is touching and inspiring.
Awewww thanks, Anne! It’s quite a journey, isn’t it?
I’m so moved by this post. As I read it, I’m looking at shiny green trees in a small city in southern India, palms, rubber trees, mango, and others I don’t know the names of. I wonder what they would say if they could talk to trees on the other side of the world.
Oooo! I’d love to listen in on that.
Thanks for making the connection, Julie. Very mycelial of you 😉✨
Happy to! (Did you just call me a fungus?) 😂 I’ll take the compliment.
You’re welcome! 😂
Beautiful post! Your paintings are marvelous! We also had a birthmother change her mind while we were trying to adopt a child. That was almost 20 years ago, and we still feel a pang of emptiness. That is a rough experience. I'm sending you peace.
I’m so sorry it happened to you, too. Such a shock. They 💯downplayed the possibility beforehand and handled it about as poorly as possible during the month waiting period (state law).
All of this was gorgeous, Julie. So many great mycelial connections to follow too. Thank you ❤️
Beautiful! Thanks for reading.
I love your leaves! And I also love Underland--and Merlin Sheldrake can count himself among the poets after all, his book Entangled Life is excellent.
It’s on my list! So many great books!
As always a beautifully written post. The paintings are beautiful. I am sending a hug and compassion for your loss of the baby boy. We adopted an older child from an orphanage, and it was (and remains) a hard journey.
The trees in London are slow to turn this year, which makes me anxious. I have just returned from Switzerland, where their trees are starting to turn. I saw red squirrels busy burying their acorns, and the chestnuts covered the ground in the parks.
Thank you for reading and for your lovely comments, Kate.
So much to love here. A great tree book that focuses on mycelial networks is Finding the Mother Tree, by Suzanne Simard; it would benefit from new words, as it stands accused of anthropomorphizing. Some of that, in my opinion, is refusal to see nature as cooperative, because wealthy humans benefit from the dogma that fierce competition and the requisite suffering are the only path.
Yes, yes! Well said. It’s pretty much what Sheldrake and Macfarlane are getting at when they agree we need new language. Overlaying our capitalist economic terminologies doesn’t work any more than anthropomorphizing. These beings are animate, AND wholly “other.” It’s fascinating!!
Thanks, Duane. Finally had a quiet moment to sit and really take this in. Love this - "It is not the calendar that keeps things alive but it is relationship." Just what Thoreau was saying about days of the week and clocks. It's an exciting time. I'm tempted to try writing a story that's 70% verbs and 30% nouns (as Robin Wall Kimmerer says of the Potawatomi language). It may not make sense in English. Brian Doyle is the closest I've come to an animate language sustained through an entire novel. "Mink River" is a wonder.
Ooooo! Thanks for the suggestion. Love his work.