I wish I could be out in the woods a little more often. I have a foot injury that slows me down more than I’d like. But I do enjoy exploring my new home state’s parks and forests as much as I can.
Mother Nature is very loud here. And she has much to say. It’s a little overwhelming, if I’m being honest. But then, everywhere I look I am affronted with such beauty! 🙃 How could one be expected to be anything less? 😉
So, I don’t really quite have words for it yet. The conversation is just getting started really. I’m sure I’ll have much more to say along the journey, but so far it seems…
The trees really want to talk to me – to teach me – about community. 💚
There’s so much to it! It’s deep. Layers deep. And complex! Like a web that you can only see in the dew of the morning.
Forest ecosystems survive through layered cooperation, exchange, adaptation, and relationship. Beneath the ground, trees and fungi are connected through vast living networks, constantly exchanging resources and signals in ways we are still beginning to understand.
And I’m still learning how to integrate all that energy into words that make sense in human language.
There is one thing I can tell you a little bit about though!
Trillium.
This unassuming beauty is the hallmark of a healthy forest ecosystem. Trillium is a fragile thing though, and takes 7 – 10 years to bloom! So I really love finding her on my forest walks. She is a premier indicator of a stable habitat and a healthy forest floor.💚Just her existence is the evidence that the system itself is healthy enough to support delicate life.
And that, of course, made me wonder, what and where are the Trillium Blooms of our society? Are there any even left?
I don’t have the answers myself, but I do know we’d better start working on tomorrow’s blooms, today!
A couple of weeks ago, frustrated after another exhausting round with Doctors and Insurances – I reached out to my Substack community, seeking suggestions for a way out of that current system. I only got one response, but it was a good one!
🖤🔥🖤
Unfortunately, she didn’t have the answer either, but she believed me capable, and encouraged me to help lead the way in figuring out a solution. I don’t know much about any of that, but I do know that these are the kinds of conversations we need to be having as a community.
How are we supposed to build healthier communities if we never stop long enough to imagine what we actually want them to look like?
So, on Wednesday, June 17th at 9pm Eastern / 6pm Pacific – I’m honored to be hosting a free, on-line community forum through Sacred Earth Ministry:
Community Conversations: Imagining the Future We Are Building Together
This is just a space for thoughtful dialogue about community, healing, education, care, connection, and the kinds of systems we hope to create moving forward.
Because maybe healthier futures begin the same way healthy forests do: through relationship, interdependence, adaptation, and communication.
Come help us dream up the world we want to create – together.
Free to attend. Registration is Required.
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/84Cg6U61T0OwXUaRNG3JUw
Hope to see you there!!!
💗Big Love & Many Blessings🌸
~Amanda ©05/2026