To Rest Like a Tree

Praise and blame, gain and loss, pleasure and sorrow come and go like the wind. To be happy, rest like a great tree in the midst of them all. — Buddha’s Little Instruction Book

Think about trees. I have a list of favorite trees from different places I have lived throughout my life. The cherry tree in the front yard of my first childhood home. The willow trees next to the swings in my childhood neighborhood. The huge oak in the back yard of the house my parents owned 40 for forty years. The tree outside my house in Bellingham that framed Mt. Baker. The trees in Rock Creek Park. The trees in Friendship Park in Cincinnati. The Banyans in my neighborhood in Miami. I even think about my love of tree pose in yoga.

What I learn from trees.

I learn about the ground.

Being outside and connected to the earth is a place where things make sense to me. Feeling the ground beneath my feet is something I have to remember to do. Living in a city, connecting to the earth requires a bit of work. Finding ground is complicated by concrete and construction. Feeling the ground, really feeling the ground is complicated by noise and heat. In the summer, I only have to stand for a minute on the sidewalk to feel the heat of the ground pulse through my shoes. In the winter in cold places, the cold penetrates layers of protection. That is ground power. Being grounded starts with feeling the ground.

I learn about roots.

There is also root power. Root power is the power that sustains and allows us to grow. Root power takes food and turns it in to nourishment. Root power keeps us centered. Root power is the constancy of the seasons. Root power connects us to our soil — the very earth beneath our feet. Root power is our family and friends. Root power is wisdom and understanding.

I learn about climbing.

I loved to climb trees as a child. I loved the different perspective the top of a tree allows. Heights have always scared me, but the middle of the trunk of our cherry tree was as safe as any place I knew. Things looked different from up there. I felt like I was in on a great secret. A secret about beauty and possibility. A secret revealing what I would become. There was safety and possibility there. What I knew up there I seemed to forget everywhere else.

I learn about strength.

I experienced a hurricane few years ago. I learned about the strength of trees during that storm. No matter how battered they were. No matter how much the water rose. The trees stood. The palms. The banyans. Stood. There is a lesson there. The strength of a tree withstands storms. The strength of a tree knows the power of rest. The strength of a tree comes from its roots. The strength of a tree connects and extends and sustains.