I recently moved, and the new place where my daughter and I are living is right by the park/forest. One gift of this apartment is that it has a porch in the back, right on the alley that borders the park/forest and looking right out into the forest. There are many trees here, and I love meeting them. During the process of moving, I met a very large tree just a block from my new apartment home. When I first breathed and connected with this tree, he shared with me that he identifies as a male tree, and that his name is Franklin. He is overflowing with wisdom, life and joy to share. Over the weeks, the Willow Oak who was my tree guide, created a bridge for me to work with Franklin as my new tree guide. I also learned that Franklin is a Silver Maple. Below I share of some experiences I am having through/with Franklin. I have powerful experiences when I am breathing and asking in person with him, however something new and remarkable has been happening for me where the experience is unexpected, amidst other regular daily activities. These moments are so precious. I am so grateful to Franklin, the Willow Oak, and to all of the plants and trees, and also to my shamanic herbal teacher.

A moment with Franklin – I am sitting at my desk, working, and feel the presence of Franklin. I am suddenly overcome and brought to my knees. In my being, I experience no membrane, no separation between what I experience as myself and all of life. I look out the window and see a small tree. I notice the branches on the tree. The only reason why I normally perceive a membrane of separation between myself and all else is so that I may refine this smaller package of being/energy (myself) so that nothing separates me from all else. I feel how all that I do affects all else. This experience is beautiful and also somewhat painful as I see all of the ways that I hold myself separate, all of the ways that I miss the opportunity to love.

A moment with Franklin, self-worth and value – I am sitting at my desk, working, and I feel a strong opening in my heart, arms, and chest. I am broken open, told through my whole being how the fact that I am alive is proof that I am love and loved. I exist in this moment now because I am needed, not because of what or how much I do. I could do nothing and still am contributing just by being alive, breathing. I am and we are each one so fully loved. There is no need to seek attention or love outside of the self. Through natural harmony with life, we draw to ourselves all that we need. In the moment I experience this energy so powerfully that I feel that others would receive it fully too if we were just to touch hands.

A moment with Franklin – I am sitting at my desk. I had been working and received a call from my mom. Following the call, I noticed how I was having a reaction to something she said. I felt the presence of Franklin, and received a beautiful gift from him. I experienced joy restored to my foundation. I felt joyful, free to be happy without it being attached to anyone else’s happiness. In this clarity in my being, I experienced how life improves upon us when we ask for this and when we are open to receive. We are part of all that is. The following day, I had a shamanic herbal session with my shamanic herbal teacher. In order to prepare for the session, she shared with me the practice to breathe and connect with my tree guide in person, and to have him ask me “What do you plan to do with the rest of your life?” When I received this question from my teacher, I cried, feeling how this question is so meaningful to me and something I deeply long to know. I developed thoughts about what the answer would be – that it would be something specific about the work I am to do. I breathed with Franklin. He asked me “What do you plan to do with the rest of your life?”. From the depths of my being came the answer that I am going to be joyous and I am going to play and create! Life is a mystery and a gift to enjoy and create in each moment through listening and making our energy creative. Today when I breathed with Franklin, continuing in the inquiry related to what I plan to do with the rest of my life, he shared with me how holding this inquiry in my awareness in each moment brings awareness to life and how each moment is an opportunity to love, as any moment may be our last.

A moment with Franklin (3.23.21) – Last night while sleeping, I awoke slightly with the awareness that when I die, so will my thoughts and my mind. I felt deeply opened and relieved by this realization. I also had acute awareness around that what will remain is the intelligence of life – that which never dies. In life, I have the opportunity to allow this intelligence to lead, to be at work through my being. I felt how this is what the plants and trees have been teaching me, and I felt how I am changing through working with Franklin. He is showing me things through his perspective, and through his experience – through the intelligence of life. I felt a radiant sensation in my solar plexus, like a flower blooming. As this natural intelligence flowed through me, I was free from thought and the prison of the mind. I experienced myself as an expression of the joy of life, contributing generative life, connected with all that is.