Fall Time: Listening to Trees

My Hoh rainforest,

where are your towering trees

and aged forest floors,

your canopy of clouds and

rain that water my soul

I wonder my rainforest

friend, how you create such

breathtaking moss

gigantic sitka spruce

leaving elk on our trail

we were ants, your

beauty humbled us:

made us one.

STOP LOOK LISTEN

Stop. Look. Listen. You’ve heard those words countless times. But do you really practice what they mean?

Do you pay attention? Yet, we must arrive at that place where we do pay attention or its results may cost us dearly. Where is that place? How do we get there? That place of quietness and confidence. That is your center. It is your power plant. Your base. Your strength. It is where you hear. Hear your thoughts. It is also where you heal. Heal your heart, your mind. Let’s see. There are all kinds of unhealthy debris. Media. Traffic. Internet. Other people. Misperceptions. Natural…Unnatural noise. The list goes on. The goal is to get quiet. You see getting quiet allows you to pay attention. It stills the enemies of your mind. Getting quiet allows you to respond with confidence instead of reacting out of fear. To wait instead of plundering recklessly forward. To reflect upon richly instead of grappling aimlessly.

We all need time to refuel, refresh and renew ourselves from that which robs, rapes and impairs our authentic selves. Some things must be proven. They cannot be taken as is.

Stop. Look. Listen.