Monday, May 4, 2015

An Ode to Words and Trees

Words, like trees are beautiful, powerful, transformative.

Old-Growth Forest, Cape Perpetua, Oregon Coast
This morning a short video entitled “Trees” arrived in my mailbox, courtesy of Mother Earth News. It was created by journalist and filmmaker Nick Werber, whose previous film Reynaldo — Rainforest Hero earned three international awards including a United Nations film award.

“As beautiful as it is heartbreaking, this elegiac film glides through majestic stands of trees to the superb words of poet, painter and author Herman Hesse and the accompaniment of music by Keaton Henson.” ~ K. C. Compton, Mother Earth News

By itself, the pictures are touching. But combined with the narration of Herman Hesse’s Ode toTrees and a little music in the background, something profound happens. Our hearts open and emotion pours out.
See what you think:



See what I mean? Sublime.

"But when we have learned how to listen to trees, then the brevity and the quickness and the childlike hastiness of our thoughts achieve an incomparable joy. Whoever has learned how to listen to trees no longer wants to be a tree. He wants to be nothing except what he is.

That is home. That is happiness." ~ Herman Hesse


Do not words inspire these same feelings? Home? Happiness? The desire to just be? I think so. How about you? Whose words have touched you lately?

~ Olivia J. Herrell

1 comment:

  1. Lovely video! It's the kind of thing that needs more than one watching because there are so many layers. Thanks for sharing it....

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