Whispers of Deep Play and Tree Time

by Maura Conlon | August 29, 2024

We come into this world as craftspeople. Such craft emerges out of a sense of play. 

As little ones, we make sandcastles by the sea, forts out of furniture, fairy hideouts out of firs. Then one day something shifts. We receive a grade or a gold star to reward our efforts. And that original impulse, that green fuse of delightful immersion, shape shifts and contorts as we grow up.

I bring up those childhood moments, proposing they are not long and far away. In recording the episodes for the podcast “Original Belonging” and in listening to my guests — I sense our tales of magic, wonder, delight and freedom from our earlier days are rooted in what feels like a “clean” place inside us — clean as in linked to the eternal.

How to Find Your Passion by Looking Back to Childhood

Sharing what lit us up has physiological impact. Our heart feels wistfulness. Our breath quickens. Our skin gets that jumpy feeling of: Oh, I remember how I loved that! And then the aha: Oh, I am of that!  The play ground as ground of being is our territory to explore. Cultural mythologist Michael Meade (mosaicvoices.org) speaks to the phenomenon of how the wise self and the inner youth within witness one another during this formative landscape. A magic loop from eternity!

Finding My Passion in Sewing

As a youth, I felt tingles of poetic utterances unfurl from my tongue onto the page. The same joy I felt with the craft of sewing, sitting for hours with Simplicity, McCalls, Butterick pattern books, constructing clothing out of fabric I’d chosen. Such resonance sent me into the world with a message—if I can create my clothes out of scratch, I can design a life in the same way! These threads form braids that bolster us when our path through life’s woods gets a little daunting. They are hints along the way.

Tree Dreamer: Kristin Kaye

Speaking of life’s woods, I am honored to speak with Kristin Kaye, award-winning author, book coach and meditation teacher, in Episode Four, Primal Creativity! Sharing about her formative years and early creativity, Kristin saw the forest as her wonder-scape. Early wilderness wanderings with a wise family elder sparked her imagination. Decades later, drawn to the wisdom of trees while witnessing the impact of extreme clear-cut forests, she joined a climb of a Redwood and lived there for four days. Kristin, author of Tree Dreams: A Novel, knows all about “tree time.” Wisdom emerging from depths and heights. Kristin’s award-winning novel has inspired a worldwide movement, inviting fellow tree dreamers to “tag trees with dreams of the myriad ways we are connected to nature, to each other, and to our future.” This outreach and this love, indeed, grounds us in our original belonging! You can learn more about this initiative at treedreams.net!

Here’s to your Original Belonging!

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Listen Now!
Episode 4: Primal Creativity
with guest Kristin Kaye

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