Wind – Guest Post – Ellen Dee Davidson
Entering the deep peace of an ancient redwood forest, listening to the high pure note of a varied thrush, smelling the mulchy earth smell as my feet pad gently on the trail of soft, russet duff, I am opened. Visions come naturally here in wild nature. Because this forest has been undisturbed for millions of years, I experience myself organically expanding into the part of myself that is also whole and undisturbed. This is a more connected state of being. From this place of relaxation, comfort, joyful presence and awareness, it is clear that we are now thirsty for visions.
After hundreds or even thousands of years of stories that have told us we are separate from nature, something different, and therefore given the right to dominate, exploit and extract to the point of leaving our one precious planet ravaged and increasingly uninhabitable, we are parched and thirsty for visions. The trees seem eager to help me with my insight. Sitting at the base of one thousands-of-years-old friend, sparkling energy permeates my being and visions and ideas are just there. I don’t have to try to think them up. They aren’t even coming from my little self; they are an arising from life loving life, from the balance of nature showing me ways.
Out of these visions of our Earth restored, with corridors of living green connecting wild habitats, my children’s visionary, environmental fantasy WIND was born. Similar to my own experiences with the intelligent, conscious trees, the main character in WIND begins to “hear” trees, and later animals, speaking in her head. This is the beginning of an adventure that leads her deeper into herself, to confront the shadow that holds her back, and to find her way home where her father’s forest garden miraculously blooms all at once.
Writing the story didn’t feel so much like fiction to me, as I’ve been living these visions for a while. Fifteen years ago, I wrote an as-yet unpublished book, Vision Singer, and in it a woman discovered she could commune with trees. Little did I know that a few years later, the things I’d written about in my fantasy would actually happen to me when I sat with the ancient trees!
So, in my most recent visionary fiction, WIND, I’m sharing the possibilities for restoration and healing of our world that are beyond our current levels of imagination. Scientists are discovering that plants and animals are much more intelligent and conscious than previously believed by most people. As we open ourselves up to the possibilities of communication and connectivity, it is possible that nature will offer surprising and even miraculous solutions. In fact, I’m working on another book that is a true story about how nature has done so. In The Miracle Forest, I tell the true story of how a sustainable community in Colombia could not get anything to grow on the barren savanna except tropical Caribbean pines. Shaded beneath the pine trees, rainforest not seen for thousands of years spontaneously and unexpectedly returned, including over 260 species of flora and fauna! It was a miracle.
Reality is full of miracles and magic. When we read or write visionary fiction, we are tuning into the possibilities of what can be. In WIND, the main character, Katie, encounters a tree goddess who shares wisdom and sets her off on her journey. Along the way, the varied cast of characters imparts learning and expanded levels of consciousness. She must use her head with the baby dragon, from the fairies she learns creation magic and how not to get lost in dreams, and traveling with an arrogant alien boy, Katie must discover what they have in common in order to get along and solve their problems. Ultimately, WIND shows how the numinous, what we term mystical and impossible, permeates our everyday lives. This is a magic we can all have and in fact we all do have, when we don’t forget.
Visionary fiction is a way for us to remember. We remember the yearnings of our hearts. We remember our dreams and desires. We remember how it can be. From this remembrance, we have the strength, hope and possibility to take one small step at a time towards a more lovely world.
About the author
Ellen Dee Davidson is the author of two children’s picture books, one young adult fantasy, and an adult forest-bathing memoir. Her current middle-grade novel, WIND, has just been released. She’s also worked as an elementary, piano and creative writing teacher and raised two daughters. Living with her husband in the redwoods of northern California, Ellen finds inspiration in the magic and beauty of nature.
