Created with Eric Chang

You Are a Tree is a meditative interspecies exercise aimed at fostering a connection between humans and trees, and drawing a connection between how each experiences the winter as a time of resetting before the spring. It is meant to be read over an audio filled with forest sounds - birds chirping, tree branches cracking, small animals moving through the underbrush.

It is based off of a monologue from the interactive/interactive theater show Bottom of the Ocean, where the character Anemone lulls a visitor to sleep with a similar meditation connecting them to the ocean.

You Are a Tree text:

You are a tree, standing in the middle of the forest.

The wind rushes through your bare branches, quick and cold.

A bird briefly settles on a branch, before taking off again into the gray sky.

Your trunk stands strong, firmly rooted in the ground beneath the dirt and snow.

You are the tree’s roots, searching for nutrients.

You are entangling and entwining yourself around other roots from other trees.

You are pushing, growing, farther down into the dirt,

anchoring yourself to this spot in this forest.

You are the dirt. Moist from snowmelt, nurtured by the decomposing leaves of fall.

You are home to mushrooms, worms, bugs, seeds, and minerals,

a rich and vibrant nursery for life.