It is not afraid of changes. It knows well that it will not survive without changes. One cannot be afraid of something that we cannot live without. It knows it perfectly. It knows itself and it needs. It knows what it needs to flourish and what makes it feel safe. It can take care of itself, because it roots know where it source of strength and support is. It can derive from that. This is it greatest treasure.
I’ve been watching it for the last 12 months. I look at it from every angle. I saw every single change and it fascinates me from month to month more and more. It changes and grows in front of me. It develops every day, making it stronger and stronger.
I remember when I saw it a year ago how delighted it was with it beauty. It greeted me with it best face. It was so beautiful, that’s truth. However, I saw less and less every day. It obvious beauty has stopped seducing me. It was at my fingertips, as if it was my everyday life, so I stopped appreciating that so much. Until the winter came, and my beauty lost all of its beauty. The white dress fell. The tempting scent faded. Only truth remains. And this showed it true face. It allowed me to observe something extraordinary. Changes that occurred in it. It unveiled itself and only then did I see what her great strength was. I saw naked branches and bare roots disappearing somewhere deep in the soil, where it built such a solid foundation. I saw the incredible energy it had in order to stay strong and stable during cold weather and during windy mornings, even when a few branches were flying away further torn by a stronger breeze. In a moment, new and fresh and stronger ones will replace them, which will withstand stronger gusts. All power lies in the roots, in the foundations that this plant has grown for all its life and which are the source of its strength every day.
It naked side shows the thicker skin and spines which it covers. They protect it and it was harder for me to see how it was wearing a summer dress. Now I see them very clearly. It is not as helpless as I thought. It cannot only delight, but also hurt if someone wants to hurt it. It can defend itself.
Wow, I’m impressed by the tree! : ) I see very clearly how it sets limits to protect itself. It knows it boundaries. In a moment everything becomes clear, from where this fear for its greatest beauty, for its fragility. Another change and another edition of it, and my eyes are getting bigger and bigger. It’s December, and my lady dressed up like a Christmas tree ; ) Skinny twigs, no leaves, but all hung with solid baubles. My beautiful Californian substitute of a Christmas tree.
New year brings another revolution and another surprise, as I was sure that white beautiful flowers will emerge from green barrel fruits, the same ones that have charmed me in spring and summer. However, what I see is another stage necessary for the full bloom. The stage after which I perfectly understand why it needs spines. Before it puts on it gown once again, it becomes a down. Gentle like never before. And it knows perfectly well that it is this aspect that needs to be the most guarded.
And spring came again, my second spring in California. And I see it again, but differently, more fully and clearly. Now I see it really all. It is beautiful as always.
Each of us has stages and cycles and thanks to them we can gain new territories and get new experience. We can grow, change and learn to protect ourselves, to gain power we did not know exist. We have a great strength in protection. You need to learn what feeds you and what poison you. What is the wing and what cuts your wings. The fight becomes completely superfluous. When we protect ourselves, we grow stronger and more beautiful.
In my forest, I often try to show how important it is to be close to nature and how we can learn from nature. Even when I’m in the center of a noisy city. Even if I change a stroll in a forest for city’s hustle and bustle, I still feel this closeness and now I feel this closeness the most. This nearness no longer results from everyday life with this wild nature. This closeness is due to the fact that it was me who found my own source, as wild as it turned out to be, which released let me tame myself. Acceptance of all changes that have occurred in me, including some gray hair. I love myself more than ever. Real myself.
My heroine is White Floss Silk Tree (Chorisia insignis).
