My son gave me When the Forest Breathes, which may be why I was predisposed to love it before I even opened it.
I have often said that I love nature as much as I love art. I love plants. I talk to mine and to many others. I believe they are sentient beings with their own forms of intelligence, communication, and feeling. Whether science can fully prove that or not has never seemed particularly important to me.
This book explores the hidden relationships that exist throughout forests and natural ecosystems, revealing a world that is far more interconnected, communicative, and responsive than many of us were taught to believe.
Reading it, I was reminded that attention changes everything. The more closely we look, whether at a work of art or a forest, the more complexity, mystery, and connection we discover.
In a week when we are thinking about healing through our conversation with Diane Brown and the work of RxART, this book feels especially resonant. Art can heal. Nature can heal. Both invite us into deeper relationships with ourselves and with the world around us.
And both ask the same thing of us: to pay attention.
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