Greetings, Dear Sunny Optimists,
Well, now I am back from my holiday! Below is the view from our apartment window, which captures the majesty and beauty of the Scottish landscape we so thoroughly delighted in.
It has been a wonderful time of ‘hanging out’ with the family and enjoying the fantastic weather we had in Scotland last week. We were lucky the heatwave did not reach as far as the Trossachs. It was perfect with warm sunny days and lovely evenings with gentle breezes.
I am rested and ready for The Sunny Optimist this week. I sometimes wonder if this adventure will come to a natural completion. Yet, I wake up happily each Friday with something new to offer you. I am grateful for this.
This week’s inspiration arises from many walks in the forest during our time away, and I have two offerings for you. The first comes from the work of Suzanne Simard, who has written a delightful book called Finding the Mother Tree. There is so much insight and understanding in the book about the contribution trees make to sustaining Life on Earth, from incredible housing of biodiversity, recycling water, storing carbon and cleaning our air.
This book is a meandering memoir of Suzanne’s scientific quest that invites us to reconnect with the forest and the wisdom that abides there. She explores how trees living side by side for hundreds of years have evolved. She details how they connect, learn and adapt their behaviours, send warnings, and mount defences. With profound sophistication and simplicity, trees ‘know’ how to balance competition and cooperation with one another.
And at the centre of it all are the Mother Trees. The mysterious, powerful force that connects and sustains the others trees surrounding them. The forest is a community of hidden connections and networks. I find myself thinking about the human spiritual traditions that celebrate the cosmic Tree of Life. Some people believe it, too, to be a powerful divine creative force that connects and sustains us.
Above is a video of Suzanne speaking about her book. I appreciate her calmness, eloquence and dedication to her work.
Guided Visualisation: The Oak
And so to second offering for you this week. It is my recording of the July guided visualisation from the Dorothea Breitzter-Kings book Meditations through the Year. It is called The Oak. I appreciate the imagery and the fluency of Dorothea's writing. She evokes each month of the year in such a beautiful way. I hope that this meditation connects you with the trees and the community that surround them.
Click here or on the photo above to listen. The music flowing with my recording is a gift from my vocal coach and friend, Tim Uffindell. You can find Tim here.
Questions for this Week
As many of you know, I love to offer evocative questions from each week’s topic that open space for insights to come to you. I am imagining you sitting quietly with the beauty of the natural world around you, and I wonder;
Are there any special tree places you like to visit?
What tree wisdom has come to you as you walk in the forest?
Is there a tree from your culture that is particularly meaningful to you?
As always, I would love to hear from you:)
Ann
Ann, as I have beautiful mother trees in my life, I totally appreciated this wonderful offering. Thank you beloved friend, how much these trees nourish us!!
♥️Much love, 🙏🏼🦋💕
That was lovely Ann. Just played the meditation on my computer. I’ll play the other video in a bit. Cheers Richard x