Monday 24 September 2012

The Forests in My Mind


Forests. I seem to find myself living in or very near them. And during the periods in my adult life that I didn't, I would visit one. Often.

During the time that my husband and I built and lived in a modern housing - tract - estate, I felt that something was missing.  I needed the restorative effects of a forest to feed the inner me. To balance the visual effects of row upon row of black roofed "show homes", with healthy doses of uninhabited (by man) wilderness.
Somehow, I needed the security that a forest gave me.

Why is this I wonder? Does a forest cocoon oneself? Does it call back to the very primal self lying deep within, forgotten and clothed by centuries of civilisation?

Is a forest a real and metaphorical place to lose oneself?

When I was young, I would bury my nose in my big book of fairy tales. I lost myself in the illustrations - especially those of the forests. To me, they weren't dark, spooky, foreboding places of dread.  They were places of refuge.

As a wee child, I felt exposed and vulnerable. Life was violent and lonely. I longed to find a real forest. To disappear into. To hide.
For a child in suburbia, that was not possible. But, I could do it in my mind.

I created a forest where I could dwell safely, hidden from fear and danger. This was my place of retreat when I had no other escape.

Life often comes full circle. And wishes can come true.

Today, I walk through the undergrowth of the forest. Taking care where I tread. Microcosms of life abound here.
Minute communities go about their lives unseen, unheard. Those who take time to pause and see, really see, will be rewarded with glimpses into the essential roles being played in the ecosystem.

Hidden


Creatures of the bush hide. Avoiding detection. Waiting. Many are nocturnal and in the evening, if I'm quiet and still, I'll catch a glimpse of a forest dweller. Comfortable under the cloak of darkness. Feeling safe among the silent sentinels of the forest.

I know how they feel.




1 comment:

  1. yes.
    to everything said here. in such a state of grace. that's how i feel anyway, in a forest.
    i can breathe it in ... in that first picture.
    and i can hear the crunch of leaves in the next!
    there seems nothing sadder than a little girl longing to be lost in a forest.
    yet really . . . nothing more beautiful either.
    because like you said . . . it's a call back to our very primal selves.
    this post makes me calm. a little gift to me.

    ReplyDelete

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