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Abstract

to overdrive before it brakes squeakily.</p><p id="53ce">My body jolts and jerks.</p><p id="0f57">My brain wants to tell all. Stories. Truths. And lies.</p><p id="325e">Heavy feelings of fear and darkness flow via her trunk into the soil beneath my feet. Futilities flutter like butterflies to the flowering bush nearby.</p><p id="ed59">Then the world stops. The icy wind calms down. My moving limbs relax.</p><p id="4ffa">Peace. Peace at last.</p><p id="4442">Hey, the tree moves.</p><p id="2015">A deep, slow, pulsating movement. Softly she sways. I surrender to my breath. A sigh cools my lips.</p><p id="ffcb">What answers was I looking for?</p><p id="85a0">It doesn’t matter anymore.</p><p id="f0a6">This deep experience with a birch raises deep questions. About loneliness and unity, about life and survival.</p><p id="d4fa">The answers will come, I’m sure of it.</p><p id="f166">But tomorrow is early enough. Today my attention is for my body and the lively birch. I shuffle my feet again and close my eyes.</p><p id="5a90">If you want to connect, you can find me on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/desireedriesenaar/">LinkedIn</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/desiree.driesenaar/">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/driesenaar">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/driesenaar/">Instagram</a>, or <a href="http://www.driesenaar.nl/">my website</a>. Or somewhere in nature. Learning from a tree…</p><h2 id="1ae8">Further reading</h2><div id="edb0" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/poetry-in-motion-77c5e1dbaee0"> <div> <div> <h2>Poetry in Motion</h2> <div><h3>Never thought I could be a po

Options

et. But now I am…</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*jeWAWRK94LWoQxclymfD7Q.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="e4cd" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/fear-of-an-unfulfilled-life-can-freedom-be-the-antidote-aed5558d0629"> <div> <div> <h2>Fear of an Unfulfilled Life. Can Freedom Be the Antidote?</h2> <div><h3>My fear is not death. My fear is an unfulfilled life. How birds can inspire philosophy while doing mundane tasks</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*hc0S4MDW2skX3PQ30kUP7w.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="214e"><i>About the author</i></p><div id="1fff" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/nature-me-and-others-fddd71910718"> <div> <div> <h2>Nature, Me, and Others</h2> <div><h3>Here’s my story, especially for Illumination readers, editors, and writers and the rest of my audience…</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*xM4d3Ngh-wmBuj2j6BZXvA.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

Life Lessons

Deep Questions and a Cold Heart

Can a wise tree give me some answers?

Birchbark. Photo by Dallas Reedy on Unsplash.

White sheets full of secret code are flapping gently in the wind. I listen and shiver. The wind is icy. Goosebumps travel from my hands to my arms to my heart.

A cold heart.

Yes. That’s what I’m feeling. A cold heart.

A patch of birchbark falls to the earth. Waiting for someone to decipher her code. The I-Ching is child’s play compared to the wisdom this birch has to offer an avid reader.

Small stripes, long stripes.

Sometimes close together, sometimes far apart.

But never touching. Always single.

Like letters. Like words. Like sentences. Together they’re a book. A birch book full of wisdom.

I look at the birch that produced the bark. Her trunk is standing tall. Her branches reach to the clouds. My hands are touching the trunk now. Palms firmly against the tree. My feet shuffle until I stand strong.

Her cool power enters my skin.

And then it happens.

My brain goes into overdrive before it brakes squeakily.

My body jolts and jerks.

My brain wants to tell all. Stories. Truths. And lies.

Heavy feelings of fear and darkness flow via her trunk into the soil beneath my feet. Futilities flutter like butterflies to the flowering bush nearby.

Then the world stops. The icy wind calms down. My moving limbs relax.

Peace. Peace at last.

Hey, the tree moves.

A deep, slow, pulsating movement. Softly she sways. I surrender to my breath. A sigh cools my lips.

What answers was I looking for?

It doesn’t matter anymore.

This deep experience with a birch raises deep questions. About loneliness and unity, about life and survival.

The answers will come, I’m sure of it.

But tomorrow is early enough. Today my attention is for my body and the lively birch. I shuffle my feet again and close my eyes.

If you want to connect, you can find me on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or my website. Or somewhere in nature. Learning from a tree…

Poetry in Motion

Never thought I could be a poet. But now I am…

medium.com

Fear of an Unfulfilled Life. Can Freedom Be the Antidote?

My fear is not death. My fear is an unfulfilled life. How birds can inspire philosophy while doing mundane tasks

medium.com

About the author

Nature, Me, and Others

Here’s my story, especially for Illumination readers, editors, and writers and the rest of my audience…

medium.com