What I found in the woods
A friend told me about a wellness weekend she went on with her mother some time ago. They were asked to take a walk in the woods and find an item that they were drawn to and bring it back. When the attendees were gathered together again, they described why they chose their item. She chose bark, and said she was drawn to it because of the thick skin she felt she had to have to get through painful experiences in her life.
I was so inspired, that today while walking through the woods, I decided to see what I was drawn to. First, I saw 3 acorn shells connected together, which could symbolize my strong connection to my 2 brothers, or my husband, daughter, and I. Three represents the trinity, linked to religions and spirituality. I passed the acorn shells, next a few blades of green grass peeking out from under the snow. Survival, strength, endurance! Yet, I passed by the grass as well.
I continued to walk and let my mind observe the bare trees, the white snow, the muddy raccoon tracks coming up from the bit of exposed river. Then, I saw my item! A small stick in the middle of the path. Seemingly more humble than the trinity of acorns or the enduring blades of grass, all the same I knew that it was what I would carry home. I picked up the stick and pondered why I was drawn to it.
The stick, on it’s own, is a stick. On a tree, it is a branch, a limb that grows buds, leaves, bears fruit. It is connected to every part of the tree. The water that the roots sip out of the ground supports the farthest branches, because the branches are part of the tree. If we see a tree with no branches, it is dead, a stump, no longer supporting life.
A stranger is a stick, a person whose connection to family, friends, community, the universe, we do not see. A brother is a branch, a person connected by family, to friends, etc…because we can see the whole tree. We are all a branch, all so connected to each other. By every thing we do, our jobs, the children we raise, the things we buy and build, all impacts each person on this earth in some way. Even those who are isolated, like Thoreau in his Walden Pond years, make an impact. He was living alone in the woods, removed from family and friends, yet he still burned wood, consumed plants, animals, and water, and created. We all are creators. In his isolation he created work that has impacted more people than those who work among the masses!
So, you are connected to me and I to you, the old six degrees of separation are existing all the time, you may look like a stick, but you are a branch, and integral part of the tree of life that is existing on this earth and beyond. -Amy Roemer 12-18-09