Hi Lori. Thanks for subscribing to Living Earthwise. I also subscribed to your post. I am also a psychologist. PhD University of Florida. I look forward to reading your posts and I hope you enjoy the ones I write.
Hi Wade, it's great to connect with you! I look forward to reading your posts, too. There's such a lovely, growing community of psychologists here on Substack. I got my PhD from Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania, and currently am based in Pittsburgh.
You don’t need to apologize for giving the forest a soul and the trees a voice. To speak of them with human-like qualities isn’t a mistake, it’s a remembering. A remembering that we are not separate, that wisdom speaks through roots and bark just as it does through bone and breath. Your words honored the spirit of the forest beautifully. Thank you for listening deeply and for letting us listen alongside you.
There is a remembering and a reminding that we can all take part in! So grateful for your support and your presence in this moment of connecting with the rest of nature! 💚
Lori, I wonder if what we’re experiencing isn’t just about the trees, but also about time itself. Places like Hearts Content are living records of history, of centuries passing. Maybe when we connect with them, we're also connecting with a sense of temporal depth. We’re acknowledging our brief moment in the grand scheme of things, and finding comfort in that. Does it feel to you sometimes that these spaces aren’t just showing you nature but also revealing the flow of time and our place within it?
You really have me thinking with that question, Alex! It's hard to put into words, but let me try. In places like Hearts Content, I'm struck by the flow of time and our limited human impact within that flow. Sure, it's possible that thousands of feet have walked through these grounds and hundreds of hands have touched the trees. But the human impact there is small, mostly gentle, or at the very least transitory. This flow of time reflects the primacy of non-human nature and its cycles. In these places, time speaks to me in the language of seasons, sunrises, sunsets, erosion, plant and animal life cycles.
When I lived and traveled in Europe, so many human structures were far, far older than these trees at Hearts Content. I felt the flow of time in human terms. The lives and generations of people, their stories, their societies, were central to how I perceived the flow of time. I feel like this is the conventional way that I experience time, so going somewhere like Hearts Content connects me both to a temporal depth and to the realm of non-human time.
I appreciate such a thought-provoking response, Alex. I may come back to refine what I shared, and I'd love to continue the conversation with you!
There is nothing quite like being around elder trees. They have so much healing, wisdom, and presence to share. No matter what my mood or my circumstances, being around trees always grounds me and helps me reconnect with myself.
Another stirring article, Lori. 🌳 If we open our hearts & minds, the trees, birds, plants & wildlife will speak to us -- and we have so many lessons to learn from them. 🌿 🫎🐞
Thank you, Lisa! 💚 I’m aware of how much wisdom the rest of nature has to offer, when I’m prepared to receive. In a place like Hearts Content, it’s hard to miss the messages, but I’m working to be a better listener at home and in the everyday.
Hi Lori. Thanks for subscribing to Living Earthwise. I also subscribed to your post. I am also a psychologist. PhD University of Florida. I look forward to reading your posts and I hope you enjoy the ones I write.
Hi Wade, it's great to connect with you! I look forward to reading your posts, too. There's such a lovely, growing community of psychologists here on Substack. I got my PhD from Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania, and currently am based in Pittsburgh.
Thanks, Lori. Check out Sally Gillespie. She’s a psychologist in Australia who writes on SubStack. Lovely person.
You don’t need to apologize for giving the forest a soul and the trees a voice. To speak of them with human-like qualities isn’t a mistake, it’s a remembering. A remembering that we are not separate, that wisdom speaks through roots and bark just as it does through bone and breath. Your words honored the spirit of the forest beautifully. Thank you for listening deeply and for letting us listen alongside you.
There is a remembering and a reminding that we can all take part in! So grateful for your support and your presence in this moment of connecting with the rest of nature! 💚
I love your likening the forest to the old crone and called it the "old lady forest"! Anthropomorphize on!!
Lori, I wonder if what we’re experiencing isn’t just about the trees, but also about time itself. Places like Hearts Content are living records of history, of centuries passing. Maybe when we connect with them, we're also connecting with a sense of temporal depth. We’re acknowledging our brief moment in the grand scheme of things, and finding comfort in that. Does it feel to you sometimes that these spaces aren’t just showing you nature but also revealing the flow of time and our place within it?
You really have me thinking with that question, Alex! It's hard to put into words, but let me try. In places like Hearts Content, I'm struck by the flow of time and our limited human impact within that flow. Sure, it's possible that thousands of feet have walked through these grounds and hundreds of hands have touched the trees. But the human impact there is small, mostly gentle, or at the very least transitory. This flow of time reflects the primacy of non-human nature and its cycles. In these places, time speaks to me in the language of seasons, sunrises, sunsets, erosion, plant and animal life cycles.
When I lived and traveled in Europe, so many human structures were far, far older than these trees at Hearts Content. I felt the flow of time in human terms. The lives and generations of people, their stories, their societies, were central to how I perceived the flow of time. I feel like this is the conventional way that I experience time, so going somewhere like Hearts Content connects me both to a temporal depth and to the realm of non-human time.
I appreciate such a thought-provoking response, Alex. I may come back to refine what I shared, and I'd love to continue the conversation with you!
There is nothing quite like being around elder trees. They have so much healing, wisdom, and presence to share. No matter what my mood or my circumstances, being around trees always grounds me and helps me reconnect with myself.
I so agree, Victoria! 🌳🌲🌴
I felt like I was there in that forest as I read this. I could feel the medicine moving through us both. A real gift, thank you!
Thank you so much, Morgan! I’m glad I was able to share this experience with you. 😊 💚
I hope I can go someday.
I hope so, too! 💚✨
Lori, You write about nature so beautifully. I'm inspired by the deep connection your feel to our Mother Earth.
Thank you, Sandra! 🙏 ❤️
Another stirring article, Lori. 🌳 If we open our hearts & minds, the trees, birds, plants & wildlife will speak to us -- and we have so many lessons to learn from them. 🌿 🫎🐞
Thank you, Lisa! 💚 I’m aware of how much wisdom the rest of nature has to offer, when I’m prepared to receive. In a place like Hearts Content, it’s hard to miss the messages, but I’m working to be a better listener at home and in the everyday.