THE TREE, pt. 3

Hi there!

Remember THE TREE?

If not, here’s a synopsis:

On Friday, May 12th, I had a “moment” with a TREE in my neighbourhood. In short, I had a SUPER COOL revelation next to this tree, walked away, and forgot the exact thoughts I had at that moment. Somehow I made up new ones (which were still cool, but not what I wanted to remember). I was angry with myself over the weekend and let go by mid-Sunday.

The beauty of the tree remained a key thought for a few more days.

I kept staring at photos I took of the tree.

I spoke to a few friends and co-workers about this tree.

My husband and I had an in-depth discussion about the life of trees.

I contemplated the fears I still carried with mobile phone usage (Part 2 of my TREE Trilogy!)

I was this close to having a seance…

I pretty much gave up on recalling that SUPER COOL moment. Was it even a thought? Maybe I just made it up. Maybe it’s just a TREE, NAD! OH MY GOSH, STOP THINKING ABOUT THE BLOODY TREE!

In the end, it was JOURNALING that pulled the moment out of me.

Over a year ago, I heard various conversations about how to find INSPIRATION. The words MOTIVATION and INSPIRATION were used interchangeably.

Something didn’t resonate with me. As I wrote and journaled daily, I chose not to treat these two words as the exact same. I see MOTIVATION as something external, whereas INSPIRATION comes from within.

When I started to dream-journal more often, I added ASPIRATION to the mix. I saw aspiration as a birthing state, a DREAM that is just about to take form.

I tried to visually demonstrate how the three were interconnected. Triangles and Venn diagrams weren’t cutting it.

One day I drew circles within circles.

“Looks like the rings inside a tree,” I first thought.

I didn’t think too much about it again.

Until I saw THE TREE.

A few moments prior, I was stuck in my head. I was stressed, caught in a whirlwind of multiple conversations pulling my energy levels down.

The tree was shedding petals and pollen all over the sidewalk. At that same moment in time, I was thinking about how lucky I was to be alive and living in a city where I can walk quickly to many amenities.

When I stopped walking and looked up at the tree, my thoughts went back to earlier ideas on ASPIRATION vs MOTIVATION vs INSPIRATION. I found a way to make a connection.

Every tree starts as a seed (Aspiration). They grow roots for nourishment. Their wisdom shows in the width of their trunk (Inspiration). Trees share their abundance unconditionally with others, and receive more nourishment from the environment outside them (Motivation).

Are we all not trees ourselves?

We all start as a seed. We grow roots and shed our beauty or ugliness with others all the time.

At that exact moment, as I lowered my phone from a conversation where I previously wrote “LIFE SUCKS,” and looked up at the tree, my thoughts were around the seed and what I was shedding as a tree of life. Do I want to shed beauty, kindness, appreciation, and love? Or do I choose to shed ugliness, mean, deadly, or hurtful things? Not just with myself, but spread all over my path for others to see?

What path do I want to lay around me?

What do I want to leave behind?

All these deep thoughts were left behind as I raised my phone and continued my walk…

Not sure if I mentioned this before - I LOVE journaling. It pulls me out of my shell to be myself… with myself.

I love when I am writing and all of a sudden an idea or a revelation pops into my head. When this happens during a journaling session, I try to write out exactly how I am thinking. Swear words and all. There are days when I wish I could (hand) write faster than my brain thinks!

Five days after the TREE experience, I wrote as per usual in my journal. As I wrote, the moments I thought were lost forever came flooding back.

It was a total recall - another cool MOMENT!

I used to be afraid to write down what I considered deep thoughts. I was equally terrified to share these thoughts. (My fears of SKYNET ruling us all continues - I’m working on that one…)

Writing and journaling helped me see through the fear. The daily practice continues to remind me that we all have the potential to be kind and generous. Being in gratitude is a way I nourish my tree, as well as seeing the way ideas connect.

There will be times when, in the middle of all the chaos around, you see blooming. Those are moments to stop and just be.

And write it down before you forget and write three long newsletters about the entire experience!

Be good to yourself and each other, fellow CREATORS.

Naddy/Nadine