TREES (again!)

and how they can save a life

Dearest seekers

Upon arrival in my homeland, my sister Katie swept me up and we went for a very long walk in Wimbledon Common. An urban forest no less—more contained than Richmond Park, with more tree stands and brambly nooks to get lost in. Horses, ponies, dogs… it felt like a miniature New Forest, a place I’ve written about often in these posts. Suffice it to say, it was the most grounded I’ve felt in years—or at least since last Christmas in the New Forest. If that was all I came here to do, it was worth the price of admission alone.

Trees support us in the deepest ways. They’ve seen it all and are unshaken by our ridiculous and painful comings and goings. Yet these are very tough times globally, and while I remain committed to my path of healing and supporting nervous systems while keeping the focus positive, even I have had to work twice as hard to stay calm and centered in my body. Connecting with nature will be our greatest resource to outwit, neutralize, and soften the political angst and din. We may need to recharge our batteries, again and again, and heal our hearts with the earth. I am deeply grateful to be in this green land, where water too is abundant.

Meanwhile, I’m doing what I can to soothe the electrical spikes. On the Equinox, I will be in Sicily, drumming in an energetic vortex in an ancient temple outside Palermo, alongside a group of women dedicated to balancing planetary energies. We are being led by an artist–shaman who trained with Michael Harner and Sandra Ingerman, and we are following her vision—and her nine-year plan—to bring this work into being.

You know I’ll report back.

On the subject of TREES saving LIVES: years ago, in ArtReview magazine, I wrote about one of my favorite artists, Joel Tauber, a man on a deeply spiritual mission. He fell in love with a sick sycamore tree in the Rose Bowl parking lot. So devoted was he that he disguised himself as a civic worker, donned a jumpsuit, jackhammered the concrete around the tree, and began to nurse it back to life. An act of love that saved the tree—and perhaps saved him too.

I highly recommend watching his film Sick Amour: A Love Story on Amazon. You will laugh, you will cry, and you will learn so much about trees—how they clean the air and balance our ecosystem. Each of Joel’s projects, from The Flying Project to Sick Amour to Seven Attempts to Make a Ritual, is a personal transformational odyssey. As I once wrote, there isn’t much he hasn’t risked in pursuit of art. He reminds me of a character straight out of a Wes Anderson film.

As the art world collapses, I hope more artists like Joel rise again from beneath the flood of painting, and that we learn to support vital, soulful practices like his.

You can be assured I’ll send full reports from Sicily and our antics there. I also plan to host a Zoom breathwork session from one of these vortexes, as soon as I figure out the details.

So here are some forest action pics, along with a few of my favorite tree quotes.

May the trees be with you! And dear paying subscribers thank you so much for your support, here is my playlist for UNCONDITIONAL LOVE - please breathe to it and report back. I curate/dj these with so much intention. Spotify link below this line