28/08/2025
Trees are healing.
They are rongoฤ, medicinal plants, in many ways.
They take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen.
Woah, slow down, think about that.
They are literally the reverse of our breathing, our hau.
(Or we are the reverse of theirs, more like)
Trees talk.
They release compounds above ground and connect through mycelium networks underground.
They are huge collaborators.
Our leaders could learn a lot from them.
They shield, they mulch, they shade, they guard, they provide, they connect, and they share.
They make me happy.
And there's science to that.
But, you know what?
You can look that up yourself.
Because I can feel it in my bones.
And I don't need a piece of paper or digital document to 'tell me' that this is true.
I do know that this picture is me healing.
A hongi with this rฤkau was exactly what I needed after 24 days of intense healing at home after major surgery.
To make it to some big old trees and stand under a small cluster of urban ngahere filled my heart and head with joy.
I didn't want to leave that tree.
But knew I couldn't stay there forever.
I am not a tree.
This statement sometimes really saddens me.
How much simpler life would be, as a tree.
And you would always be 'home'.
Always connected into life, into Papatลซฤnuku.
So I remain part tree.
Sinking my roots down in places.
Feeling the dirt, the wind, the rain.
Helping things grow around me.
And breathing.
Breathing deep.
