(Adam, it's a video)

That's some heavy thoughts for someone so young. Shows me how visible the pain of the world is even at an early age.

-Aaron 

Oh! It's a video!

I looked it up on You Tube. What a keen sence of empathy. Thanks for posting G.F.

what is that?

what?

that!

oh, that's dirt and leaves!

a real conversation between an residential student and a 9 year old girl on a walk outside.

i have'nt read it (The Last Child in the Woods, i think ) but a friend describe from this book that research indicates that youth are feeling so inudated with reports, table talk, environmentalists, etc, that the environment is so seriously compromised by humans that they won't go outside or enteract as a result. that we assume we are having such an impact that if one more ant is stepped on the air will turn brown and the oceans will turn blood red... kinda sounds biblical.

i'm wondering if he's experiencing empathy with the trees or is regurgitating what he's heard day in day out. how useful is it to have those thoughts? that to peel the bark off a tree is like shedding skin exposing bone; that we 'murder' trees?

bbb

That is the question isn't it? Is Julian thinking on his own or just repeating a learned behavior. I think I'll send a message to the maker of this video and find out.

Take Care,

Adam Hintz

in response to my own post questioning julians empathy with the tree i would like to point out the words used to describe what julian called his prior life as a tree. neither was it in first person giving experience as a tree or the feelings of the tree, but rather delivered in [*edit*] first person plural (third person ) using 'we' and what 'we do' to the trees and what it looks like to do those things. i cannot deny anyones personal experience and certainly don't want to take anything away from julian or substract from whatever seems so important to him that he is moved say what he has said. though i can't help thinking this bit of film would make a great commerical kinda like an indian crying at the side of the road with a busted sack of garbage at his feet than a case of empathetic connection between species.

i have received many accounts of empathetic encounters with plants and animals from personal meetings with natives and others as well as from book authors claiming to have close relations with these 'others'. many of these stories are of the plants tellings 'us' that they are here to feed us, make us well when sick, to provide clothing and shelter. a giving and deeply heart felt concern permeates from the plants and these personal accounts that i have been lucky enough to share in. the feeling radiated by the presence of such a being as an old growth tree is humbling - not to mention the "eternal" or indefinitely long life plants, bacteria, etc., have enjoyed here on earth without humans and will undoubtly continue to enjoy long after the two legged mamals have gone the way of the dionsuar says much to me. if we can estimate intelligence by the length of time a life form has been around then 4 billion years of mircobial history goes to bateria and how infinitely wise would your ancestors be for having lived so long? (an amazing account of this by Lynn Margulis and son Dorion Sagan is called MICROCOSMOS four billion years of microbial evolution).

how do you define empathy?

care

bbb

I've experienced this on several occations and that's why Julians words have a power to them. I'm not saying Julian actually experienced anything. But I've experienced sensations of growing strong in the suns rays. I believe I may have communicated with plant spirits during meditation.

Empathy to me is feeling anothers experience as if it was your own.

It helps me care for something if I have an affinity with it's experience. And maybe this is Julian saying he cares for the trees. Or maybe he's just talking out of his you know what. Kids do that too.

Take Care.

aye i watched this a few weeks ago when i stumbled on a whole bunch of ish-y vids, i thought it was one of you guys... ..is it?

also stumbled upon an old ish gathering vid that showed a bunch of you guys, was quite surprised to see a lot of you in vid-flesh so to speak