In The Woods

In the woods:

in the woods, always such a poetic phrase to me, implying so much with just it's utterance or first sight upon a page. Here, it tells me, is life, a gathering of trees that host a diversity of beingness, individual creatures and plants that really form a single entity of a living expression. I love being in the woods, even near, walking a path that cuts through its mystery yet never truly diminishes the secret that it holds. There is a feeling that I'm welcomed here, invited, but there's something holy invoked as well, as if I'm now returned to my own ancient homeland, birthplace of my soul, my DNA is found entwined from leaf to deepest root. In the woods is really where my soul belongs, whispering through the branches, joining in birdsong and the teeming sounds of varied life. 

a single entity, truly.

and the word woodland, as if it were two things that could never exist apart from each other, and a single word was needed to convey the intimacy of this connection. It's a beautiful word, invoking the essence of a true belonging, that trees have gathered at the bequest of land, soil rich for just this giving, and earth has gifted us a single expression...woodland...

so much beauty in a single word.

that's the true theme here, as my writing unfolds, and I catch a glimpse of what the woods are wishing me to see - that there is a singular intent of living, life, varied, but always an expression of just one thing alone, and that I am an intimate part of this as well, essential by grace and virtue of my appearance. I am never really in the woods, as that implies even a subtle sense of separation, more honestly it's better said that I am simply of the land, same as any tree, rooted deep and reached to the very touch of sky, being gifted too by earth. 

in the woods...such a beautiful phrase,

telling me I belong.

~

Peace, Eric