I absolutely love that you wrote about "underground mycelial networks" and I love even more that this seems to be in the zeitgeist right now♥️🔥🙏
I also have a sense you'd love the book I'm reading at the moment Leah, "Our Ancestors Want Us to Be Mushrooms: Wisdom for Living in Balance with the Planet and Each Other" by Madison Murphy Barney.
Hi Camilla. I love the title of the book you're reading. It seems like it might be aligned with what I'm trying to say about forests. I'll definitely check it out. ❤️ Thanks for being here. ❤️
It is interesting when the same image, metaphor or concept keeps echoing through different streams of thought. Thanks for suggesting the book. I will add it to my list of books for my upcoming road trip.
I love these so much that I'm not even going to try to reply in Haiku. You have the capacity to read - sometimes even between the lines - and distill my intent into its essence. I am deeply grateful for you. ❤️ 🙏
Beautifully said, Leah: "Are we tree or forest? Yes. There is no individual 'me.' I am tree, forest, soil, sky, river, Earth, cosmos." This essay brings to mind Lindsay Branham's new book, "Heartwood, The Wisdom and Healing Kinship of Trees," another book you might want to read. (So much to read, so little time!) Also, re Peter Wohlleben and his work, I learned several years ago when I interviewed Suzanne Simard for Wildflower Magazine that his "Secret Life of Trees" is largely based on Simard's work, but he did not credit her at all in the original edition of the book. When a US publisher bought the rights to publish "Secret Life of Trees" here and asked Simard to write a foreword, she read it and realized that he had extensively "borrowed" her research and conclusions as if they were his own. Simard said that she agreed to write a foreword only if her research was credited in the new edition of the book. A classic case of a male scientist appropriating the work of a female scientist as his own.... Blessings to you!
OMG! I had no idea about the issue with Wohlleben. I am a huge Simard fan so it's easy for me to prioritize featuring her work. (I pretty much talk about it all the time and loved "When the Forest Breathes" too. I'll do a post on that soon to make it up to her a wee bit!). Lindsay's book is on my list. Glad to hear that you liked it. And yes, so many good books, too little time!!) Thanks for reading, for being here, for your support. It's greatly appreciated. I love that we're in the same forest!
That came up in the course of a long phone conversation when I was interviewing Simard, and we ended up sharing experiences as women in field science, and how much rowing upstream we had to do to have our work recognized and honored as such. She talks in Mother Tree about how difficult it was to do the work she was doing, and how little support she got for the first couple of decades, plus how much she was dismissed by so many male scientists. It's still more that way than not in field science, sadly, or so I hear from younger women. Simard persevered and created an amazing community around her lab, grad students and those colleagues who valued her work. She is generous with giving credit and extending support, I think partly because of how hard it was for her in the earlier years. She's just an extraordinary person and scientist!
Yes, reading and watching her from afar, I have been so impressed. It must have been a richly rewarding conversation between the two of you! I would have loved to listen in.
This series is wonderful, such a gift, gleaned from your years of tracking these ideas and immersing in the teachings of trees and other wise ones. I'm printing it out to read on the plane (long trip coming up). I expect to chime in eventually. Sorry to be so behind ~ !!
What a lovely response, Julie. This means a lot. I hear your sense of falling behind. So much I want to read! And then there's a point where I just have to stop reading to keep writing. I hope you're going somewhere fun; sorry if you said and I missed it. Thanks for staying in touch and safe travels!
A few years ago, I left a highly rewarding practice to live in the forest of the Talamanca Cordilleras, and since I arrived here, my life has never been the same.
The cloud forest jungle is teaching me how to belong. The wisdom and intelligence of the forest are overwhelming.
I have experienced what you describe in your article about the trees—and more.
It has been a humbling lesson in belonging and interdependence, in understanding that nothing here exists alone.
And it turns out to be the best period of my life.
Wow! What a courageous life decision! I can only begin to imagine the impactful experiences you've had in a cloud forest. I look forward to reading more about the wisdom you've been given by the forest. Thanks so much for being here.
Leah - I love this! There is, however, one part that I think we need to lean more into: “Too many of us have become “old” without becoming “elders.” I found myself feeling like you were letting those of us in our more seasoned years off the hook a bit too easily.
I think our role in all this is as "ministers of introduction" to our more-than-human neighbors or at least guides in how to hear their voices.
I thought of those in my own life who were true elders to me. They taught me how to listen deeply and imaginatively – thus allowing me to hear the wisdom of my more-than-human elders and trust my own intuition.
While I appreciate books and articles, I am not sure the saplings in my own human community are finding these resources, and even if they do, that they feel confident enough to trust their ability to commune with those who do not speak in verbal words.
They need flesh and blood guides to co-journey with them – young and old – learning from our more-than-human elders and leaning on each other. Thank you for your thought-provoking article. It stirred up a number of questions for me that will likely be explored in my own writing.
I love this back-and-forth dialogue and the convergence and divergence that make the journey much less lonely and far more fruitful.
Thanks, Wendy, for your thoughtful response. I definitely did not mean to excuse the "older" crowd among whom I dwell from taking on the mantle of elders to the next generations! I was trying to make the point that most of us haven't even done our own work to become wise elders. Thanks for letting me know that I needed more clarity in my writing. (Of course I am always seeking more clarity of thought too - though that's an endless journey!) And yes, all our "lovely" words pale in comparison to walking the walk.
Grateful for the conversations, online and in person!
Good morning, Leah☀️
I absolutely love that you wrote about "underground mycelial networks" and I love even more that this seems to be in the zeitgeist right now♥️🔥🙏
I also have a sense you'd love the book I'm reading at the moment Leah, "Our Ancestors Want Us to Be Mushrooms: Wisdom for Living in Balance with the Planet and Each Other" by Madison Murphy Barney.
Hi Camilla. I love the title of the book you're reading. It seems like it might be aligned with what I'm trying to say about forests. I'll definitely check it out. ❤️ Thanks for being here. ❤️
It is interesting when the same image, metaphor or concept keeps echoing through different streams of thought. Thanks for suggesting the book. I will add it to my list of books for my upcoming road trip.
Hi Wendy, the audio edition is narrated by the author who is of Native American heritage, and I'm really enjoying listening to her.
I love listening to audio books while I’m gardening. I’ll look for that option.
Wise elders galore…
warmly wait in we-world’s woods.
Forests, faith-fuel full!
…
Loneliness drains life…
each Tree is forest is one.
Same for us saplings.
…
Separation, lie…
Pando shows/teaches real truth.
There’s no ‘I,’ ‘me,’ ‘mine’!
I love these so much that I'm not even going to try to reply in Haiku. You have the capacity to read - sometimes even between the lines - and distill my intent into its essence. I am deeply grateful for you. ❤️ 🙏
🤣😁 😉😎😊
🌲🌳🌲🌳🌲
Pondering Pandos?
Beautifully said, Leah: "Are we tree or forest? Yes. There is no individual 'me.' I am tree, forest, soil, sky, river, Earth, cosmos." This essay brings to mind Lindsay Branham's new book, "Heartwood, The Wisdom and Healing Kinship of Trees," another book you might want to read. (So much to read, so little time!) Also, re Peter Wohlleben and his work, I learned several years ago when I interviewed Suzanne Simard for Wildflower Magazine that his "Secret Life of Trees" is largely based on Simard's work, but he did not credit her at all in the original edition of the book. When a US publisher bought the rights to publish "Secret Life of Trees" here and asked Simard to write a foreword, she read it and realized that he had extensively "borrowed" her research and conclusions as if they were his own. Simard said that she agreed to write a foreword only if her research was credited in the new edition of the book. A classic case of a male scientist appropriating the work of a female scientist as his own.... Blessings to you!
OMG! I had no idea about the issue with Wohlleben. I am a huge Simard fan so it's easy for me to prioritize featuring her work. (I pretty much talk about it all the time and loved "When the Forest Breathes" too. I'll do a post on that soon to make it up to her a wee bit!). Lindsay's book is on my list. Glad to hear that you liked it. And yes, so many good books, too little time!!) Thanks for reading, for being here, for your support. It's greatly appreciated. I love that we're in the same forest!
That came up in the course of a long phone conversation when I was interviewing Simard, and we ended up sharing experiences as women in field science, and how much rowing upstream we had to do to have our work recognized and honored as such. She talks in Mother Tree about how difficult it was to do the work she was doing, and how little support she got for the first couple of decades, plus how much she was dismissed by so many male scientists. It's still more that way than not in field science, sadly, or so I hear from younger women. Simard persevered and created an amazing community around her lab, grad students and those colleagues who valued her work. She is generous with giving credit and extending support, I think partly because of how hard it was for her in the earlier years. She's just an extraordinary person and scientist!
Yes, reading and watching her from afar, I have been so impressed. It must have been a richly rewarding conversation between the two of you! I would have loved to listen in.
We had a great conversation! Sadly, I only had 400 words to capture it all, but we talked longer simply because we connected so well.
💗🌳💗
This series is wonderful, such a gift, gleaned from your years of tracking these ideas and immersing in the teachings of trees and other wise ones. I'm printing it out to read on the plane (long trip coming up). I expect to chime in eventually. Sorry to be so behind ~ !!
What a lovely response, Julie. This means a lot. I hear your sense of falling behind. So much I want to read! And then there's a point where I just have to stop reading to keep writing. I hope you're going somewhere fun; sorry if you said and I missed it. Thanks for staying in touch and safe travels!
A few years ago, I left a highly rewarding practice to live in the forest of the Talamanca Cordilleras, and since I arrived here, my life has never been the same.
The cloud forest jungle is teaching me how to belong. The wisdom and intelligence of the forest are overwhelming.
I have experienced what you describe in your article about the trees—and more.
It has been a humbling lesson in belonging and interdependence, in understanding that nothing here exists alone.
And it turns out to be the best period of my life.
Wow! What a courageous life decision! I can only begin to imagine the impactful experiences you've had in a cloud forest. I look forward to reading more about the wisdom you've been given by the forest. Thanks so much for being here.
I had already incorporated some of these concepts in my latest manuscript. Thank you for providing more info for me to use.
We'll look forward to hearing more about your work.
Think hard before encouraging me too much, but I do appreciate the kind words.
Leah - I love this! There is, however, one part that I think we need to lean more into: “Too many of us have become “old” without becoming “elders.” I found myself feeling like you were letting those of us in our more seasoned years off the hook a bit too easily.
I think our role in all this is as "ministers of introduction" to our more-than-human neighbors or at least guides in how to hear their voices.
I thought of those in my own life who were true elders to me. They taught me how to listen deeply and imaginatively – thus allowing me to hear the wisdom of my more-than-human elders and trust my own intuition.
While I appreciate books and articles, I am not sure the saplings in my own human community are finding these resources, and even if they do, that they feel confident enough to trust their ability to commune with those who do not speak in verbal words.
They need flesh and blood guides to co-journey with them – young and old – learning from our more-than-human elders and leaning on each other. Thank you for your thought-provoking article. It stirred up a number of questions for me that will likely be explored in my own writing.
I love this back-and-forth dialogue and the convergence and divergence that make the journey much less lonely and far more fruitful.
I look forward to meeting you in person!
Thanks, Wendy, for your thoughtful response. I definitely did not mean to excuse the "older" crowd among whom I dwell from taking on the mantle of elders to the next generations! I was trying to make the point that most of us haven't even done our own work to become wise elders. Thanks for letting me know that I needed more clarity in my writing. (Of course I am always seeking more clarity of thought too - though that's an endless journey!) And yes, all our "lovely" words pale in comparison to walking the walk.
Grateful for the conversations, online and in person!