I’m going to attempt to explain something that’s a little “out there”. I live my life “outside of the box”, so it’s not surprising. So now I’d like to take a shot at rationalizing why it’s o.k. for people to hug trees. Yah I said it…
Crazy, tree-hugging, out-there, touchy- feely, hippies. They’re crazy and lost in their own “spirituality”. Not rational. Not logical. Impractical. Hippies.
People these days cling to rationality like a toddler to a blanket. They’re afraid of what will happen I they step out of the well accepted, deeply founded realm of logic and into the unclear, harder to understand realm of emotions/ spirituality. To avoid this most people wall themselves up inside unseen cubicle spaces they carry around with them. They keep people at a distance physically and emotionally. Humans are not just physical beings. It’s Mind, Body, and Spirit. So here’s your rope ladder to climb up to reach a place you ordinarily would not have allowed yourself to go.
There are these things that exist called “trees”. What are they? They are hard, tall structures that branch off and become thinner and more brittle. Trees have cellular processes –they absorb nutrients from the ground which allows them to grow. They have photosynthesis and produce a gas known as oxygen that other organisms require to survive. A tree is alive; but a tree cannot communicate with anything outside of itself. But there are people who are like that.
Coma patients. People lying in hospital bed who have no brain function. They usually call these people “vegetables” ironically –they are alive, but they are inactive and cannot connect with the world around them. Yet we don’t just walk up to a brain-dead patient and say, “Oh well”, and just pull the plug. Even though coma patients are unresponsive, their lives are still weighted and given value. They are still taken into consideration. What’s the difference between that and a tree? Even if you know a brain-dead patient will never regain consciousness, their lives still mean something. Why not a tree?
Trees have been hacked, sawed, burned, and deforested by man for centuries without second thought. Trees have no value to most people. Does that mean they are worthless? Scientific studies have shown that plants respond to various elements in their environment. There was an experiment with plotted plants that showed plants grew more responsively when classical music was played and people talked to the plants n a positive way. The plants also responded negatively when loud crashing noises and yelling were introduced to their environment. Even if trees have no way of knowing your act of respect given with a hug, would it hurting anything?
Caution: While hugging a tree you may feel slight deflation of ego and embarrassment if others choose to hold your actions against you. This can be avoided by owning who you are and not letting others’ opinions of you define you.
Lastly there’s a thought of selflessness that goes into hugging a tree. Most people hug because they want a hug in return. Most people don’t hug others if they think the affection is not reciprocated. Trees can’t hug back. It is a selfless act to hug a tree because you know you will receive nothing in return and it may even come at the expense of your pride and ego. This is compassion. It is something worth doing.
This might sound a little “out there”, but I view a tree as a symbol representing different aspects of myself as a person. It’s not exactly exciting to say a tree represents you, but it’s truth just the same. I feel I have roots (thoughts) that delve deep below the surface- these can be seen s having emotional/intellectual depth and or “the darker side of life”: like the fact that I can listen to Seether, Theory of a Dead Man, and watch Fight Club. Then there’s the main portion of the tree that seems ordinary and everyone can see clearly (“Me” as viewed by others). Then there are branches that shoot upward out of reach that get thinner, frailer, and become harder to see. This is my spiritual side- a side that’s harder to reach, a side that’s harder for others to see and connect to, and a side that can grant a greater, more expansive view on things from above. I am a Tree.
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