Need help? Ask the trees!

Our former home in Washington state sat on three-quarters of a heavily treed acre. This was one of the reasons we bought the place 30 years ago. The home itself was very common and older, but we didn’t care. We bought the property for the trees and other wonderful plants and birds who lived there. It was rural and private. When we decided it was time to move and chose the desert of Arizona, I thought we had lost our minds. How could I ever live without my friends, the trees?

I talked to them about it, and they were also sad, but understood. I began a dialogue with them. I told them that if they wanted the right people to buy the property, they had to help attract them. I asked them to use their root system as well as their sky arms to call in the people who would be best suited to live there.

We had watched a documentary about fungi the year before. I learned how fungi are the communication system of the forests. I asked them to help as well.

I asked them to help us find our right home in Arizona. Because I knew there is more cacti than trees, I asked them to use their communication system to reach the cactus that could also help us relocate to the right place. Well……

The people who bought our home are arborists and run a tree service and were thrilled to buy our property. The place we moved to has many trees in a private community park that faces our back yard, something I didn’t expect. I lost some trees and gained others and continue having a great relationship with them.

What does this have to do with creativity? Everything. I learned that whether I’m manifesting a home or a piece of art, I can ask nature for help and receive it. Sometimes I sit outside with the trees and ask them for inspiration. They never let me down.

I just signed up for a seven-day online Inspired by Nature Sketching Retreat. Susan Yates from England is the leader and she’s the person who started the 30-day sketching challenge that has gone on for over 10 years. Susan is also the author of Sketchbook Challenge: 100 Prompts for Daily Drawing. You can learn more about her and the retreat here.

Although of great support to artists, you don’t need to be an artist to benefit from sketching. Some days all I do is make marks and doodles. When I do draw something, it isn’t very “good” in a show-stopper way. See some drawings from my current sketchbook at the end of this article. However, sketching helps me loosen up my creativity and helps me express myself in a non-verbal way. I think it even helps my writing skills. Sketching is to creating as practicing scales is to playing the piano. In my musician days, I began each daily session by playing scales and Hanon exercises in order to warm up my hands and release my musical self. Sketching does the same thing to help me create.

If you haven’t tried sketching, give it a whirl. There’s tons of information at You Tube as well as many books that can help get you started. You might be surprised at how much fun it is and the hidden gifts it offers!

Creating in joy, grace, and ease,

Krysta