A story from June

18/07/2017





June started with the perfect pace, living simpler does get naturally easier on vacations. We spend our days by the sea, in the water or walking by the seashore. The days were long, the weather perfect, the water temperature very acceptable and all of the places were rather unpopulated yet, so I got rather convinced that early June is the perfect timing for vacations.

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I read a book that has been shifting the way I look at trees and plants. The book is called "The Hidden Life of Trees", and it tells engaging stories about how trees communicate with each other, how they support other trees through their roots,  how they educate the younger ones... the stories opened up a new perspective to me.  Trees are presented as truly social beings that live their lives at a pace that makes it difficult to understand for us humans. The author proposedly anthropomorphizes the trees to make his point, but it worked for me: by the end of the book, it was clear to me how little do  I  know about this subject, how little I understand it.  I did not need convincing of how marvellous their world is (I know that since the first time I was in a forest as a young girl) but, the possibility of trees storing information, feeling, communicating, parenting, building communities,  kind of blows my mind in awe. And I'm left with so much to discover and a relentless: What if?

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I felt drowning as I returned home and work. Loads of duties, demands and "normal" life.  It is very clear to me that I need to redefine my "normal" life.
Usually, I would think that there are no big changes, that change is something you implement slowly but steadily in our lives. I would think I need more time outside in nature, doing nothing. I would think I should redefine my screen time - again. I would think I need to focus on health, rest, nourishing food, family, play.
And I did all of the above. But I'm feeling I run out of small changes to do and the feeling isn't going away. I need a BIG change.

4 comments:

  1. Anonymous21.7.17

    I recognise that drowning feeling Cristiana. And the call for freedom from the heart. It's especially powerful after time away from daily routine. (Your vacation sounds wonderful!) A while ago I heard someone talking about how we tell ourselves that we don't know what we want, but actually it's not true. We do know what we want, it's just that we either don't believe we're worth it or we think we can't make a living from it... I've thought a lot about that and it's been helpful.

    The book about trees sounds wonderful - I'm going to have a look for that, or is it in Portuguese?

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    Replies
    1. I would love meet you for a cup of tea and talk more about this with you Lotta, I believe I'm on a path that you are familiar to and your insights are very significant. I'm a slow walker, and though I do think it makes sense that we do know what we want, I can't see it yet. But I am sure of I what I don't want and feel confident that this process will result in something good.

      The book is wonderful, I've just added the link to the book on amazon, for reference. I read it in Portuguese but it was written by Peter Wohlleben, a German forester, as a result about his observations and research.

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  2. Também estou a ler esse livro! Foi-me oferecido por uma amiga querida como presente de "até breve", quando nos mudámos.
    Sim, há uma altura que em nós já está a certeza que temos que fazer uma mudança (maior), só falta dar o primeiro passo (por mais "cliché" que soe...).
    Envio-te muita força e clareza e conta comigo para o que quiseres.

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    Replies
    1. Que belo presente (e que bela amiga!). Estás a gostar/gostaste?
      Obrigada pelo apoio, querida Ema. Por acaso até me sinto um cliché absoluto, numa crise de identidade dos quarenta, por isso, ajusta-se perfeitamente! E sim, só falta dar o primeiro passo, que será em breve!

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