Draw a Forest

If you ask a little kid to draw a forest, he or she will probably draw a solid block, or long row, of evergreen trees. If you ask an adult to draw a forest, it will be similar, but with a wider variety of trees. Maybe a poplar or an elm. Maybe. In either case, neither really looks like a forest.

I spend a lot of time in the woods these days. The woods are far from a collection of standing, upright, trees. I am always amazed how many fallen trees are out there in the forest. One day I even saw one falling, after a very rainy day. It was an amazing sight and sound. Those fallen trees are an important part of forest life. They provide a place for animals to hide. Their rotting trunks provide nutrients to the soil. A healthy forest has lots of fallen trees. A healthy forest also has lots of ground cover and bushes. I always laugh when a TV show or movie is set in a forest. They are almost pristine, more like a forest planted by Georgia Pacific or International Paper, soon to be cut down.

These thoughts of the woods got me thinking about our own lives and how they are similar to a forest. Hiking in the woods is great for introspection and self reflection!

Our lives that we present to the world, are a lot like those forest pictures drawn by kids. Perfect, all lined up, the perfect colors of green and brown. The lives we present to the world are often idealistic and focused on the positive. Not that there is anything wrong with that!

Our real lives, though, are filled with fallen trees. And, exactly like a forest, those fallen trees are good for us. Those fallen trees represent our bad choices, our losses, and the traumas of everyday life. Those bad choices leave us with valuable lessons. Our losses leave us with valuable memories and sometimes are a call to live our lives differently. Those everyday traumas, the stuff in life that is just plain hard, are like fallen trees and ground cover as they are with us all the time.

We need to be challenged in our lives. We need to suffer losses. Life needs to be difficult. Without that we would not appreciate the good things in our lives, like the trees standing straight and tall. They are straight and tall because of what has happened all around them.

Life, like the deep dark woods, is a crazy, inconsistent, jumble. It is filled with contradictions and jubilation. It is wonderful.

The next time you are near a forest, take a really good look inside. You are looking at your own life.