Trees can talk?
Yep! And you can listen to them.
Really?
How?
Well you can start by listening with your heart.
Sound hokey?
Maybe to adults it does, but children naturally understand. The heart feels love and love is a kind of chemical in the body and the heart is a big ole magnet making a symphony of sorts. And trees talk with chemicals too! In fact, there’s a cacophony of connections going on just beneath your feet.
When we listen to trees with our hearts we learn to attend to the rustling before our minds identify it as tree leaves. We pause in our pursuit to name the singular magnificence before us as an “Oak” or “Pine” and linger instead in the indefinable mystery of life itself.
This is the art of Listening Beyond Words and children are masters of it.
I enjoyed collecting their thoughts and words over the school year and now those words are featured in a window display at the Artisan Center Store on Third and Detroit St. along with the love tree the children made with Amy and I. While the children weren't able to help me with the final touches, the overall display was envisioned by the them. It is our gift to the Cherry Creek North Community at this time of physical distancing, a simple reminder that we each are part of life’s great song.
May each of us keep on listening.
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