In the Forest, a Tree

To a perfectly perfect stranger met on a time on the river bank I asked a simple question, “How should I live my life and live life to the full?” He smiled at me, His eyes dark, wise and weary, hair of a time weathered gray, his life charted across his face. In a voice coarse as the shifting sands, He said Let your heart be as the wondering wind, that passing over lands and seas, mountains and deserts, takes unto itself the flavor of each and all yet never surrendering itself to any, never staying to dwell in any part but rather giving freely of itself to all in equal measure. Bearing with it seeds, to bloom, taking with it a taste of all that it might touch. Giving of itself freely but taking only that which is freely given. Laughing, sighing, roaring and singing, growing and changing yet at heart always the same. At heart, be as the wind, He said. Let your soul be as the deepening seas, vast, unfathomable, its’ darkest depths unreachable. A place of mystery and wonder, terror, despair, yet golden and glittering when touched by the sun, with silver fire burning, when touched by the moon. At times at peace, at times full of tumult, your cradle, temple, your grave. To every shore reaching, that which is of itself, being everywhere, and all the rivers and streams of the world shall, in time lose themselves in it, and become of it, and it shall grow, and broaden and deepen, its temperament governed by the wind, but always it shall mirror the unchangingskies. In spirit, be as the seas, He said. Let your mind be as the open skies, that know no bounds, that ascend ever upwards, that dwell on all that is, for all that is, is but a part of them or hangs within them. For having no beginning and no ending, and knowing no definite boundaries, they can lay claim to all, and they sustain all or are themselves sustained by all. The stars, the moon, the sun, sky and more sky, and the more that is revealed of it, The less of it is known and seen, and the grander the scheme of things. For it is not only that which is known that must sustain you, but rather that which is yet to be discovered In mind be as the skies, He said. But in body, be as the earth that holds a something of all that is and was, within it’s bosom. And of all that shall become, it is only too eager to learn. Be as the earth that in humility suffers all to thread upon her breast and is ever smiling at the skies, enduring the whims of the wind, the wrath of the seas, the ever changing mood of fickle seasons, ever changing, ever passing. Humblest and lowliest yet mightiest. Holding together the fabric of all that we are or might ever possibly become; a home, a sanctuary. The holiest of temples, the lowliest of dens. Mirroring us, sustaining us in all our guises. In body be as the earth, He said. Then go, seek out a pool of clear waters, Deep and clear, dark and still. Therein shall you see the truth and learn, For then shall you stand as an oak tree in a forest, tall, proud and mighty! Magnificent Your head held high, to the skies reaching. Your arms stretched wide into the winds, far spanning. By rivers swift sustained, tumbling and rolling, Chasing the unending seas, Yet always, firmly rooted In Earth Carlos DeBattista 30/08/01