Do You Want a Transcendent Experience? (For Free?!) Go Out Into Nature, and Connect with a Tree

I grant you, it all sounds a little bit too "hippie" and "green", too earthy and primitive for you, my civilized and sophisticated listener, but you'll be absolutely AMAZED by how transcendent it can be to simply examine, admire, and celebrate a tree--that marvel of nature by which, almost everywhere you look, you're quietly surrounded (and, if you'll notice, made to feel quite small). Appreciating a tree, silly though it sounds, is a powerful way to practice mindfulness, to become attentive to detail, to cultivate a poetic spirit, to fall in love with nature, to feel gratitude for life, to humble oneself, to stand before and beneath something awesome, and to connect, as we too seldom do, with the earth. Go outside, find a tree, and listen to this episode (and be sure to check the mailbox before returning inside). You'll be forever changed. If nothing else, like all my other episodes on this channel, this episode has an alternative use as an excellent, non-pharmaceutical aid to sleep. Play it before going to bed for optimal effect. And when you wake, visit my new podcast, "Finneran's Wake For Kids", on which I hope to entertain and enlighten the entire family.