A Forest Opening
When light reaches floors that have been in the dark for decades
Hello divine being,
As some of you know back in September Western North Carolina experienced a natural disaster like never before. When Hurricane Helene swept through these mountains no one knew how vast the scope of the damage would be. In just my tiny county alone, thousands of trees fell down, not to mention the damage to homes, small businesses, and families all around.
As the leaves fell and fall turned into winter all the damage was revealed. Piles of debris lined the roads. Bare trees allowed us to see miles down the rivers, witnessing all the cars, trees, homes, and other debris the river washed away. I couldn’t help but grieve what was lost, the winter invited grief and intense focus on the devastation. It was hard not to feel the heaviness of knowing that this region will take 10-15 years to fully recover from this event. Deep down I knew the spring would be a celebration of new life, but during the depths of the winter months I couldn’t seem to see the light at the end of the tunnel. All I could see was how many mother trees fell. My heart hurt seeing piles and piles and more piles of trees soon to be turned into mulch to mitigate the chances of forest fires. The mountains looked bare, you could see whole mountainsides where 90% of the trees had fallen. The Earth felt sad, like there was something missing. I kept wondering if this was just the beginning, if soon enough all the mountain ranges around here would be tree-less.
Then, in the late winter season wildfires began. As soon as everyone was starting to take a deep breath, knowing warmer weather was coming, we felt the rug being pulled under us once again. With very unusual dry weather, wildfires began to spread all over Western North Carolina. All the sudden, our sense of security and readiness to flee came back. I dreamt of fires on my land, and the uneasiness crept in very slowly. Polluted air, something that I’m no stranger to, made its way to our sacred valley many times and invited those feelings of grief and despair from the winter once again. I began mentally preparing to leave all my belongings and my beautiful home behind. I recognized how attached I am to my beloved possessions, as sacred as they are, attachment is still attachment. Then, I took a deep breath. I remembered to trust the Earth whole heartedly. If she takes this house in flames, then she is freeing me from my belongings and inviting me to be present with the loss. She is sharing a sacred teaching with me about the nature of reality. When I remembered this, I could relax into the moment and deeply appreciate her magnificent ways. Luckily, my home did not catch on fire and my belongings remain.
Then, finally rain and spring came. Trees and flowers began to bloom, grass emerged along the sides of the streets, and the mountains filled with life once again. What was once despair and grief turned into awe. The Earth’s resilience filled my heart with joy. I felt like I was witnessing these mountains for the first time. Slowly, the lushness of the Blue Ridge began to swallow up the devastation and remind me of impermanence. Even the devastation that occurred here is impermanent. When a natural disaster hits, it too will pass and the mountains will remain. They may not look like what they did before, but that’s okay…it’s all a part of the beauty of change. This spring has been my teacher of optimism, of looking ahead to the future that is filled with regeneration.
I, like most people, have days where I don’t see how the regeneration of this Earth is possible with our society’s current level of ignorance, destruction, and consumption. When these days come, I simply remember my very own commitment to regenerating the Earth. Our existence can be our greatest reminders of hope. In a world with many people that seem to turn a blind eye to our impact on our planet, I am choosing to stare it right in the face. All the horror: pollution, trash, and trees cut down in the name of profit and convenience. Yet, witnessing the Earth’s regeneration here has shown me how simple it can be to change the course. To turn from deforestation to reforestation. To go from consumption to cultivation. To live from a place of creation instead of destruction. We can all be living examples of the future and stand by our values, we must.
Last week, I drove past the very same debris piles of trees that filled my heart with sadness over the winter. Except this time, I recognized the sacred opening that occurred in these mountains on the forest floor. What was once thought to be a loss is simply a gain in disguise. What I saw as thousands of trees fallen and “lost” in the forest was actually an opening to let the light hit the forest floor where it hadn’t for decades. Light is beginning to shine on the darkness, and with that comes the opening up of new life in the forest. What is happening on the outside is reflected on the inside, and it’s no coincidence that the people of Western North Carolina are also feeling their hearts open up this spring. As light hits the darkness of the forest floor, light hits the parts of us that remained in the dark for far too long. To witness ourselves clearly is the first step to alchemizing these shadow parts into light. The light can only come when we have the courage to bring our shadow up to the surface. If we neglect the shadow, burying it deep down inside, it will remain hidden in the dark with no chance of light coming in.
Just like the Earth feels pain when her beloved trees fall to the ground, we too feel pain bringing up our shadows. The pain and discomfort is the foundation we need to allow ourselves to feel safe and to step into the light. Neglecting the pain and discomfort in life is a great disservice to ourselves and our bodies. The Earth has no choice but to feel every single root being pulled up out from underground, she feels the pain of death. Yet this very death is what brings new life to the surface. A mother tree falls down and provides light to the forest floor for new growth to begin. New trees and plants will grow as the sun hits this very tender spot, one that maybe even forgot what sunshine felt like.
Light begins to shine and life begins to grow, once again. Native plants that weren’t getting enough sunshine are now being nurtured by the breath of fresh air that comes with an open forest floor. These native plants have seeds of love, compassion, clarity, and equanimity. These plants are the ones that are inside all of us, but might not be getting enough light. When we don’t know they’re there, we don’t know how to cultivate them. When we take time to cultivate them, we suddenly realize they’ve been here all along. The lack of sunshine is the only thing standing in our way from unlocking these “native plants” within ourselves.
So, how can we nurture these seeds inside us? Here are three little tips that I’ve found to be quite effective to add more love and compassion into my days:
✺ Regular practice of Yoga asana
When the body is tight, the mind is often tight. For most of us the easiest way to unbind the mind is through the gateway of the body. Yoga asana increases circulation, strengthens our body tissues, and keeps our joints flexible (when practiced in a sattvic (harmonious) way). Not to mention the effects on the mind which often lead to us moving through our days with greater clarity, calmness, and balance.
✺ Cooking with saffron
Saffron is a sacred spice that can aid us increasing our love and devotion. Especially when we pray over our food, high quality saffron can act as an aly to increase love and devotion within us. It’s for this reason that so many wisdom traditions use saffron water to offer to statues of deities or use it in ritual practice. My favorite way to cook with saffron is in rice or in warmed raw milk. You don’t need more than 2 or 3 little flakes per serving, so make sure to not overdo it.
✺ Spending time with trees every week
Trees vibrate at a high energy and are great beings to go to when we feel we need to cleanse or shake off some negative energy. Trees are great healers, and in my opinion the power of them is very underestimated. They are always willing to take whatever we’re carrying and hold it. Trees have gentle spirits and when we form a connection to them, we can often instantly feel our love and compassion rise up. To feel, hug, and caress a tree will instantly uplift your spirit. You can even visualize the tree inhaling all of your negative emotions and then exhaling white light onto you. After all, we do exhale carbon dioxide which the trees absorb and turn into oxygen for us to breathe. Whether we are aware of it or not, we are constantly exchanging energy with trees
Thanks for being here.
Much love,
Emilie
P.S. I am no longer continuing with paid subscriptions and subscriber-only posts. I want my posts to be free and accessible to everyone. So if you’d like to support my writing, you can click above to leave a tip…or what I call a morsel of appreciation. 10% of all “tips” goes to local land preservation efforts in Western North Carolina. Thanks for being here