32 Comments
User's avatar
JFT Beach 🇬🇧 🏊 🧘‍♂️'s avatar

This was a lovely uplifting read - I will share a link to it in my Sunday round up newsletter

Expand full comment
Lori L. Cangilla, Ph.D.'s avatar

I’m so grateful to hear that you were uplifted by this piece! 💚✨ My intention was to share exactly that same experience that I had. Thank you for so generously passing it along to your readers! I’m grateful for our connection!

Expand full comment
Alexander Lovell, PhD's avatar

Lori, your words resonate deeply with me. I, too, find solace in the quiet embrace of nature. But your exploration of the concept of "oneness" with the trees goes beyond the typical nature-lover's connection. It challenges the very notion of ownership and separation, urging us to see ourselves as interwoven threads within the tapestry of life. This unconventional perspective is both humbling and liberating, reminding us that we are not isolated individuals but part of a larger, interconnected whole. It's a beautiful reminder that our well-being is inextricably linked to the health of our planet and its inhabitants.

Expand full comment
Lori L. Cangilla, Ph.D.'s avatar

Thank you, Alex, for seeing me and expressing this so eloquently! This interconnectedness with nature is deeply spiritual for me and can be hard to translate into words, so I’m humbled to know that you were able to resonate with what I shared. 🌲🪾🌳

Expand full comment
Wild Lion*esses Pride from Jay's avatar

Lori,

I stayed with your words a while. Let them settle like roots in soft soil.

The quiet reverence you hold with the trees met something in me that doesn’t need fixing, only witnessing. I no longer speak of forgetting or returning. I never truly left. I’ve always been canyon, soil, sky. What shifted for me was the way I inhabit it now—less as a visitor, more as rock and root and breath.

That lone daffodil on your hill doesn't need to be moved. It doesn't need to be seen to matter. You saw it. That’s enough.

There’s a clarity in how you hold space for what is—bare branches still lingering in the shade, injustice pressing down, and the soul finding steadiness in place.

Thank you for offering this moment as it is.

Expand full comment
Lori L. Cangilla, Ph.D.'s avatar

Thank you for this beautiful reflection, Jay!

Expand full comment
Lisa Tea's avatar

Perfect subject matter, Lori. I think we as sensitive souls are perfectly aligned with nature in all its forms. 🕊 It feels us and we feel it. 🌳

Expand full comment
Lori L. Cangilla, Ph.D.'s avatar

Thank you, Lisa! I think the concept of alignment makes so much sense for many of us sensitive people. And aligning with the rest of nature definitely suits me! 💚✨

Expand full comment
Victoria Fann's avatar

Thank you for this. I've had a deep and intimate connection with trees ever since I lived in the Pacific Northwest where trees have such a large presence. I bonded with the trees there as they opened my heart, and I've felt connected with trees ever since. I consider them my brothers and sisters. They offer me solace and healing, asking for little in return, except my heartfelt awareness and appreciation.

Expand full comment
Lori L. Cangilla, Ph.D.'s avatar

I hope to get to the Pacific Northwest one day and experience the coastal rainforests! The photos I’ve seen are just entrancing. May you have many more comforting moments with your tree family, Victoria! 🌳🌲❤️

Expand full comment
PoeScripts's avatar

Lori, l couldn’t resist your title, “The Trees Hold My Soul”. I am entranced from the get go. I have a tree I go to every morning to greet the day, to express gratitude, to settle and ground myself with its healing energies. To prepare me for the day. I feel like I’ve found a kindred spirit in you!! Thank you for sharing. PS I love the lone daffy.

Expand full comment
Lori L. Cangilla, Ph.D.'s avatar

I’m so grateful to welcome another kindred spirit to Singularly Sensitive! Having a special tree like yours is true wealth, isn’t it? Wishing you many long, uninterrupted moments with your tree. 🌳🌲

Expand full comment
Kris Jackson's avatar

Beautiful imagery. Thank you!

Expand full comment
Lori L. Cangilla, Ph.D.'s avatar

Thank you kindly, Kris!

Expand full comment
Lila Sterling's avatar

Oh this is so lovely to read upon waking this morning. Immediately my heart turned toward a grove of pine trees whom I deeply enjoy communion with. I am in need of them today, and they me. Thank you for this. 🌹

Expand full comment
Lori L. Cangilla, Ph.D.'s avatar

My pleasure, Lila! Get with your pine grove! ❤️🌲❤️

Expand full comment
Marina's avatar

Thank you for this poetic reminder to seek healing in nature. I once tried forest bathing and it was so deeply healing.

Expand full comment
Lori L. Cangilla, Ph.D.'s avatar

It’s a reminder I need to give myself, so I’m happy to share it with others, Marina! 💚 I’d love to hear more about your forest bathing experience at some point. I’m training to be a forest therapy guide and that’s an element of what we’re learning. It’s remarkable how much we can do for ourselves by reconnecting with the rest of nature. 🌳🪾🌲

Expand full comment
Sandra Pawula's avatar

Lori, So beautifully written! I love nature, too.

Expand full comment
Lori L. Cangilla, Ph.D.'s avatar

Thanks, Sandra! Staying connected to the rest of the natural world is so vital, especially for sensitive souls who know that we are all part of this web. ❤️🌴🌳🌲❤️

Expand full comment
Shaddai's avatar

Beautifully written. I live in the mountains with a woods in front of me. Most healing and grounding space for me in this unkind world.

Expand full comment
Lori L. Cangilla, Ph.D.'s avatar

Thank you, Shaddai! I agree, the grounding I experience is such an antidote to human life. 🌳🌲

Expand full comment
Mesa Fama's avatar

The trees hold my soul too. Thank you for this beautiful piece, Lori <3 Xoxo

Expand full comment
Lori L. Cangilla, Ph.D.'s avatar

Kindred spirits! ❤️🌳❤️

Expand full comment
Self-Love Studio with Morgan's avatar

Nature restores and fortifies me, too. Better than anything else, when the world is breaking my heart. I love how you painted this picture of remembering yourself back. Thank you for the beautiful offering.❤️🌿

Expand full comment
Lori L. Cangilla, Ph.D.'s avatar

I agree, Morgan, deepening my connection to the rest of nature is so good for me when my heart is broken. It’s so lovely to hear from you and know another person who is remembering themselves back! 💚

Expand full comment
Morgana Clementine's avatar

So exquisitely written, Lori. Trees are my sanctuary too, and this phrase, "The trees hold my soul" speaks so much to me.

Expand full comment
Lori L. Cangilla, Ph.D.'s avatar

Trees are a sanctuary, aren’t they? I love that word for them, Morgana. Thank you for sharing it with me. May you spend lots of time with the trees! 🌳 🌲 🌴

Expand full comment
Cory Welke's avatar

Yes! I was blessed with being able to go to the place where Arbor Day was started this past weekend in Nebraska. It was a very somatic experience. I also walked away with two books that are allowing me to connect even deeper to the wisdom of the trees through art, words, and story-telling. Thank you for this connection piece.

Expand full comment
Lori L. Cangilla, Ph.D.'s avatar

Cory, thank you for sharing what sounds like a powerful experience! If you’d like to recommend either of the books (here or via a direct message), I’d be curious to know what you found. I think our relationships with trees can be supported in so many creative ways, so it’s fun to play around with what might work for us. So grateful to hear from you! 🌳 🌲

Expand full comment
Carol D Marsh's avatar

So lovely and calming, Lori. Thank you.

Expand full comment
Lori L. Cangilla, Ph.D.'s avatar

Thank you so much, Carol! I felt myself calming as I wrote it (which isn’t a given for me when I write!). Sending calming energy back your way! 💚

Expand full comment