POSITIVE THING TO DO # 87 - 89: TELL THE STORY BEHIND THE MAN OF THE FOREST

Milou, a nine year old Argentinian girl and member of this network has been urging people to add their poems to these pages. Here is one of mine and the story behind it's creation.
The Story Part 1
I spent the winter of 1993 in Marin County, California, where I lived alone, deep in the forest, sleeping like a Hobbit inside the trunk of a gigantic, ancient, Reedwood Tree. In the mornings I would leave the forest to do my environmental work and the evenings would return to the tree and meditate. My meditations began by picturing myself journeying up through the trunk of the tree all the way to the it's top. The tree was the tallest in the forest.

Once my spirit had risen in meditation to the top of the tree I would open my eyes and it was as if I could see forever. These times, away with the spirit to the universe beyond and within, I would be open to all possibilities and capable of recieving the messages that guide people on their path.

At times like this I felt one with the giant tree and words. One night these words flowed into the poem that many people think speaks of my life..

MAN OF THE FOREST

I am a man of the forest
A lover of trees
A smeller of flowers
An observer of life

Oft I sit in silence
Listening to the breeze
Flow through the woods
Over the hills and through the grass

Sometimes I fail to eat
Occasionally my spirit will fall
But not for long
Nature's beauty takes care of me

Every now and again
I will touch the mysteries of the universe
And be thankful regardless of pain
For the gift of vision

I am a man of the forest
A hugger of trees
A caresser of petals
A participator in life

The Story Part 2
Meditating one night inside the tree, with the war in the Balkans and the fate of Sarajevo on my mind, wondering what on Earth I could do to help the people and their natural environment. I knew that Sarajevo had lost most of its trees and that the people loved their natural heritage, and having seen the environmental impact of war in Central and South AmericaII wanted to do soimething, anything, but what could I, just one man do?

The from insde the tree my heart spoke. 'Walk! Walk from San Francisco to Sarajevo, to plant a tree on Earth Day, April 22nd 1995. Walk across the United States through Europe and through the war to plant a tree of hope., and to spread the message that war is not only devastating to cities and their people, it also devastating to the natural environment that we all need to exist.'

I left on May 15th 1994 I began the walk to Sarajevo from San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. On April 22nd, 1995 after almost of a year of walking, while the city was still under siege and the bombs were still dropping I planted the tree in Sarajevo. It was only one tree. But I think that one tree did the world of good.

Listen to the trees. They whisper on the breeze.