A strange place to hold space for your past, feel the weight of the present, and be excited for a future.
I once heard David White call this “the long site.”
Our society is so focused on the present that it ignores the past and the future.
We are told to have only the present, which seems so small and limiting. There is only one leaf on a tree that is you, and one tree in a forest that could be you. You don’t get to see the sunrises, looking only at the leaf for fear of watching the darkness descend from a sunset.
But what if our lives are so vast that you can be in all of it at once when you need to.
Like a forest, there is old growth, fallen trees covered in moss, once hopes that never manifested but decaying in your subconscious, either rotting away in the darkness or giving nutrients to a new dream.
There are seeds for thousands of trees of possible futures, whatever one you choose to watch grow.
The present moment, every breath as unique as a leaf on a tree, is where you can spend time enjoying the simple pleasures of the moment in whatever environment. With the warmth of a summer day, or watching them turn, brilliant in colors of red and yellow, then fall to the ground in the next breath, giving nutrients to a possible future for seeds below.
Sometimes, the moment is dark and cold, like a winter night, but we allow this, as it is just part of the process. We know dawn is a new day, and spring is not far away.
And your future is all around you and within you, seeds being nourished by your past if you allow them. Whatever seed you decide to watch grow,
Your whole existence is like a forest,
My past is clear but always changing, from the pain of a forest fire to understanding how it allows for new growth. Dreams of old trees rotting if ignored, I can see the beautiful fungi, moss, and ferns growing from this. It’s mycorrhizal, feeding a whole life.
I can watch it with a smile, the pain of the past, knowing it’s part of the evolution of my life sitting in the moment. I can look up from here, listen to the birds, and hear the rustling of critters there.
I can see a future within me, with every seed and every tree. No matter the hurt from lost dreams, I can use them to build a life with the potential for a full and dense future like an old-growth forest.
Where you can see all my past as part of the beauty, guiding how new ideas and dreams grow, moss-covered stumps, with sprouts of trees, creeks, and running water, foxglove, and fireweed brightening up the remains of a painful fire, adding color and life to the blackened remains of a dream.
Some days, when my mind is quiet.
I can almost see the ghosts of a future I’ve yet to witness and bear. It will have its summers and light and butterflies. And it will have cold, dark winters, with death and decay.
But this is my forest, my life, my garden of a soul. My past, present, and future are all within.
Be present to all of it with an open heart. Then, you choose what seeds grow into your future, fed by the pain of your past, with gratitude in the present.
Your life will make for a grand forest.
The Mountains Inside 