We bathe in wonders. Some manipulate aspects of these aided by theories of gravity or electromagnetism. I try to stand tall with shoulders back so I can breathe deeply which keeps my heart open to resonate with Whatever. I step off the street and enter a dense forest trail. As I move deeper into the woods human sounds smooth out into hums softer than the crunch of my feet on last autumn’s leaves.
Walking this path, I intend to pay attention, but I miss almost everything.
When I choose not to enter some woods, it sprinkles me with thoughts of regret. If I do enter, but pay no attention to anything, I am still caressed. Someday I might understand the rapture of every creature like that of the worms as they return autumn’s mulch to the trees, but, right now, I can’t separate out those drops of this forest bath. I walk. When the path ends I feel refreshed.
WORMS WORK WINTER MULCH
RIVER DRAINS AWAY THE SNOW
FOOTSTEPS CRUMPLE LEAVES
Linked to dVerse Haibun Monday hosted by Toni aka kanzen sakura (www.kanzensakura.wordpress.com) who writes, “In 1980, the Japanese began a type of healing/meditation/relaxation process called shinrin-yoku (森林浴) or literally, forest bathing.” The prompt is to try this yourself and report on your experiences.
I love the alliteration in the first line of your haiku. it drives home the scurry of worms under the quiet mulch. I love the forest so much. All of it. It seems you do as well.
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I am glad you liked the alliteration. Thank you, Toni!
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Maybe it’s just that… the not paying attention… making all the difference… and the worms will turn the mulch to trees even if we never look.
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They will. We don’t have to watch them. There is a lot we are unaware of. Thank you!
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A beautiful haibun Frank, I love ‘We bathe in wonders’ and how the experience is enough to feel caressed without fully understanding how it all works. ‘I can’t separate out those drops of this forest bath’ is such a blissful observation :o)
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Thank you! It is good that we don’t have to do anything special to receive all this benefit. It is free for the experiencing.
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☺
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Maybe the forest is paying attention to you?
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I think it is. I saw a deer who definitely paid attention to me. There may be a lot more attention than I believe could exist in the forest. Thanks!
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There’s something about the word choice in the haiku that conjures up that end of winter feel, when the sun isn’t strong enough to be warm yet, but the ground is warming up.
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There may be a lot of choices going on that I am unaware of in the forest besides my choice to take the trail. I imagine when winter ends it is more possible for choices to be made by the creatures in the forest. Thanks!
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Winter is a lock down time of year for nature, you’re right. Thank goodness spring is here 🙂
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Those little worms have a lot of work. It’s easy to tramp through underbrush and miss the moment. Misquote time is the worse, maybe that’s why I wrote of winter’s forest.
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I think you are right about the winter being the best cleansing season. Mosquitoes can keep me out of an area. There are also black flies and “no-see-ems”. I remember decades ago in the Maine woods using an Avon product called “Skin So Soft” to keep these insects away. Thanks!
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felt the pull of the word regret, like the season that just left, yet fortified in the hopes of a new preparation.
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Thank you! I can’t take every trail I would like to try. On some I have to turn around because of time. There is some regret in all those situations.
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It would take a lifetime to understand and appreciate the wonders and rapture of the forest ~ But each occasion is an opportunity to be refreshed ~ Enjoyed your read Frank ~
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Thank you, Grace! Not understanding everything means there is more to understand and enjoy later.
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Even without paying attention, the forest has a soothing magic….and the silence to hear our own inner voice!
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I find I can only pay attention, or be mindful, for so long. I don’t know how much it matters. In the end, I am glad I took that walk regardless. Thanks, Bev!
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Forests really do possess this magic; whether we’re attentive or not, bathing in the energy of trees is cleansing like little else. You have both spurred me to visit our local forests tomorrow, and be rejuvenated.
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It is probably a good thing it doesn’t depend entirely on us. I take daily walks, but the weekends are when I can explore trails I haven’t been to. However, familiar trails are especially nice because memory helps make one feel safe and aware. I am progressing through Terra Draco. It looks like Princess Régan has plans her parents will disapprove of.
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I like to get to know familiar landscapes. You always find something new. Thank you for reading–she’s a cool character 😉
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I’m enjoying your book. I don’t normally read fantasy literature, but I like the idea of dragons and I like using them in poems. Each of your posts sets up tension to keep me wondering what will happen and they come in small pieces. In a week I should be caught up to where your current posts continue the story.
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I’m glad you like it! I think our dragons would be friends.
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The haiku works so well–switching to the effect that we, as humans, have on the forest in contrast to the forces of nature.
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I didn’t realize it, but now that you mention it, the last line is about my feet crumpling the leaves which does contrast or complement with what the worms do to those leaves in the first line. Thanks, Victoria!
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Funny how those unconscious poetic techniques are unknown so often to the writer. Gotta embrace that poetic spirit!
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Blessed by osmosis perhaps, but just being there, bathing in the splendor, is still a grand & valid adjunct to our health, physically & spiritually. You rocked the prompt.
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Thanks, Glenn! I didn’t realize there was such a thing as forest bathing or that there were even “forest therapists” that you mentioned in your haibun. But I suspect it is similar to retreats in rural settings or summer camping. We’ve been doing this a long time.
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You’ve touched on a realization for me here…”under” stress, I walk hunched with rounded back and shallow breath. In the forest, walking by the sea, in natural places, my shoulders relax I stand taller to breathe more deeply, and calm enters. Posture tells a lot!
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I’ve found posture to be critical even when sitting. I am still in the process of breaking bad habits and noticing the benefits. One of the yoga instructors I have keeps correcting mine. Will Johnson has a book “The Posture of Meditation” which emphasizes a straight back and knees low. He uses something called “Rolfing” which aligns the body with gravity. It is beneficial not only for his Buddhist practices but for any standing or sitting. I didn’t realize how bad my posture was until recently.
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Frank I really enjoyed this haibun.. It spurred a realization that we enter perhaps with great expectations, and then? Part of the magic of the forest is we get ‘lost’ in its bounty, its bounty. We are taken over and the better for it. Also loved the haiku.
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I do enter a forest with expectations, but come out refreshed in ways I did not expect. Although I usually tell myself to pay attention after reading these haibun I think I will be asking myself going forward why all this magic occurs. Thanks!
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That is a good point. Trees extend their blessings to us, even when we are not fully aware, and we emerge refreshed. Cool.
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It is a gift. We just have to show up to receive it. Thanks!
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I love the you might choose your path but the forest chooses what you see and feel. Nice haibun.
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I suppose the only thing I chose was to take the walk and let the forest do what it does best. On my next walk I going to think of gratitude. Thanks!
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What a lovely idea. I like that, Frank.
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deep deep deep thoughts, Frank. And the haiku is a delight to the senses. 🙂
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I am glad you liked it! Thank you!
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you’re welcome. ❤
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beautiful haibun….a different perspective…enjoyed…the haiku sounds so nice!
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Thank you, Sreeja!
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“Sound of one hand
clapping in the forest”..
when Forest
becomes
hand..
inspired by
Seagulls and Waves
of Ocean.. without tools
to float above the water as waves..
i dance the sands in reverse as my
feet can see the eARth..
Sugar white
Quartz
a
grain am i
toGeTheR
aS oNe
we
NaviGate
the eARTh aS oNE..
Wave Field Ocean wHOle..
ForCe Particles as Grains
Ocean
wHOle
am
i am..
FlYiNg WiTh eARTh..
roTating and rEvolving Sun..:)
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Unusual trailer. I haven’t seen the movie. I like the point you are making about the forest being the one hand that is clapping and we are bathed in its sound when we walk in the forest. Unless I misunderstood.
If the weather is OK, I plan to take that same trail this coming weekend (or the one after). I will keep that idea in mind. Thanks!
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SMiLes.. my friEnd
yes.. you see my point
and of course the metaphors
for oneness with Nature
are as endless
as Nature
itself..
another one
of my favorites
is the wood sprite (Na’vi name: atokirina’)
as a seed of the Tree of Souls in the movie.. ‘Avatar’..
back in ’09.. where some folks went to the movie
and actually felt
the reality
in the
real world
of their avatar-
like lives separate
from Nature.. the Movie’s
visuals and sounds BrinGinG
thaT reaLiTy lost in connection with
Nature to greater liGht.. as daRkness
real in the newer phrase for NDD.. Nature
Deficit Disorder.. yes.. so many metaphors
my FriEnd.. and hope you enjoy your next
Forest Bathing trip.. one of my other favorite
YouTube resources to relay the FeeLinG of
Connectedness with all of Nature is
‘Symphony of Science’.. with
Sagan and his other
friEnds.. who
champion
oneness
with Nature more..
i’LL share.. considering
you may not have come
across this.. as well.. my FriENd..:)
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I haven’t see that video either. Avatar is one of my favorite movies. I’ve seen it many times and it might be time to see it again. I agree we are all connected. Philosophically I am an idealist. Everything that we see is really there, however, not as unconscious matter, but as a manifestation of consciousness that we share in. Thanks, my friend, for bringing my attention those videos.
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A beautiful haibun with a rich haiku 🙂
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Thank you, Janice!
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