Getting back to our Roots

"...trees as a metaphor for self-examination by acknowledging our roots, finding our heartwood, and focusing on how we can branch out to provide shade and fruits for others."

- Karen Marcus

Life Coach

Our world has moved through the industrial age and now we're in the technology age, both of which have distanced us from our start of being close and intimate with nature. We've discovered by experience, as well as through research, that the distance from nature can do damage to our minds as well as our bodies. Anxiety, high blood pressure and weight gain are just a few of the ills of our current society that can be alleviated with time in nature and specifically in spending time shinrin-yoku, the Japanese word for "forest bathing".

Perhaps we need to get back to our roots and acknowledge that we spend too much time gazing at our technology, following paths of clicks, rather than paths of dirt, branching out by sharing our lives through screens, rather than branching out to provide hugs and comfort.

These aspens I've painted are part of a larger grove we are fortunate to have in our backyard. They are an oasis of bright green, shade and beauty in our high desert, often dry, country. I picked three of them because I wanted to appreciate the individuals that make up the grove. Because I see them every day, I often take for granted all they provide to me, my animal companions, birds, rabbits, rodents and plants growing in their shade.

I acknowledge my roots in needing the trees' solace and their roots of importance to all around them.

May you take time to follow paths of dirt, enjoy the comfort of trees and grow healthy branches reaching out to others!