Me and A Tree

Interesting that as I look back through my artwork over the past years, about half of everything I have ever created is a tree.  Hmmmm.... never really realized how enamored I am with trees.  But come to think of it, most of the photos I've taken are of trees too.   What's that all about?  I suppose something about a tree just resonates with me.

Why have I been drawn to trees without really recognizing this until now?  Is there anything in your life like that?  You feel just a crazy love for something odd like toads, crosses, or a certain color, but you've never really taken it any farther except to think, "I have a real preference for this thing."  Do you ever wonder why you prefer it over something else?

I'm learning something amazing... that our souls speak to us through subtle and simple signs... constantly.  Every minute of every day there are guideposts that manifest in our lives through images, people, songs, nature, smells, sounds.  But they are indeed subtle.  If we aren't aware and open to their soft whisperings, we'll miss them altogether.  So perhaps the reason I'm drawn to trees, and you are drawn to grasshoppers or buffalo or shoes is because, on a soul level, we are being asked to take a closer look at that thing.  And when we really look at that thing, we learn its aspects and can apply them to our own lives.  It's brilliant, really.    

In the next few blogs, I'd love to delve deeper into what I'm learning about symbols and signs and how they are powerful indicators that give us insight and heal us.  But today, I simply must talk about trees because I am so excited to finally, (yes, It's taken me years) appreciate their symbology!!!! 

Here's a cool word... "ecointuition."  It's just a fancy new word for a practice that is as old as earth itself - but I like it... it means living in sync with nature and attuning to nature on a soul level - really listening to nature's subtle energies and finding insight and growth from them. 

Back to the trees and my "ecointuition"...  After researching the symbology of trees, here is what the trees are teaching me...  We aren't that different, me and the tree.  The tree is a beautiful metaphor for my spiritual growth!

Take a moment and picture your favorite tree.  So many darling ones to choose.  Mine are the Dogwood and the Willow. 

Imagine your tree's strong roots, the foundation, entangled in the ground, anchoring, grounding into the earth, extending themselves to reach for more and more, drawing into them nutrients and water.   Our relationship to the earth is like those deep roots... symbiotic... so very connected to an entire system of life.  And cool to note that our roots are our belief systems... firmly planted deep inside us.  We must dig deep into our very foundations to really know ourselves.

Here's something else... the roots of a tree are mostly underground, so they are unseen.  Like us, our spiritual progress is often hidden from plain view.  There's a lot going on underground.  Our power rises when we dig deep and work beneath the superficial layers.

Now move your mind's eye to the trunk of your tree.  The backbone of the tree; its source of power and energy flow.  As a tree's trunk supports the tree, so too do our human bodies stand tall, our backbones holding us up, supporting us while flowing energy up, up, up to new growth.

The tree trunk's outer bark protects it from its environment, while the inside of the trunk is an amazing intricate system of energy flow and circulation, just like in our bodies.

And remember tree rings?  The tree grows from the inside out adding layers upon layers to itself.  Just as the tree renews itself, we too renew ourselves spiritually by growing from the inside out.  We "grow" by realizing that our true power source comes from within first.  Again, it's that going inward that seems to be important.    

Now move up your tree and cast your eyes on its many branches.  Just like its roots, its branches and limbs extend themselves to reach for more and more.  The branches are the leaves support to seek more light and nourishment and growth.

The limbs of a tree represent our potential to grow in any direction, our opportunity to develop with our own free will.  Perhaps our limbs are our talents and abilities, our many opportunities toward self-expression which we choose through free will.

 

Now look up at those gorgeous and varied leaves on your tree.  Leaves are the tree's vitality, the creating part, the manifesting part, the flowers and blooms, the myriad of colors...  all those leaves and blooms of different sizes, shapes and color, some eaten away, some brilliant and shiny, some affected by the weather, but all manifestations of what the tree creates.

Just like our manifestations, brilliant in size, color, shape, some beat up by life, some brilliant and shiny, but all gifts that we give and bloom into the world.  And each bloom bares the very essence of that specific tree and our specific selves.

A tree... here it was before me all this time, and I never took the time to listen.  Now, when I look at a tree, I will have a visual reminder of my own potential.  The tree says to me, "As am I, you too are linked both to earth and heaven, with your feet firmly planted in this world, but your branches reaching toward heaven, toward your own self expression."

The tree calls, "Just like me, you are only responsible for your own growth."

It whispers to me, "Never give up.  Look how I grow... my branches are nimble and can grow any which way to reach out for nourishment.  My branches always find ways around obstacles.  So can you.  Never be limited.  Reach out as far as you can to grow.  Expansion is your birthright."

And then it sings to me, "Your potential is phenomenal and unlimited and FREE.  Just as I begin as a tiny, little, hard seed, I am not afraid to grow and open to life.  Just as you open your heart to life, you will grow around and through your limitations and create the most magnificent blooms."

WOWZA!  Those trees are something else, aren't they?  I'm going to start listening more often... and now, I think I will go outside right this very minute and hug a tree!

Thanks so much for visiting.  Hope your week is filled with awareness of the signs all around you!    

Stacey