This quote in full by Ram Dass is, “When you go out into the woods and you look at trees, you see all these different trees. And some of them are bent, and some of them are straight, and some of them are evergreens, and some of them are whatever. And you look at the tree and you allow it. You see why it is the way it is. You sort of understand that it didn’t get enough light, and so it turned that way. And you don’t get all emotional about it. You just allow it. You appreciate the tree. The minute you get near humans, you lose all that. And you are constantly saying ‘You’re too this, or I’m too this.’ That judging mind comes in. And so I practice turning people into trees. Which means appreciating them just the way they are.”
I thought this was apt as we head into Christmas, and work Christmas parties, and catching up with old friends, and family members and people that still live in our old neighbourhood. An approach of encountering everyone with appreciation and respect for them acting exactly as they are, just as they should. Even if it’s not the way we might act or ‘approve of’ acting.
In essence, it would be nauseatingly boring to be surrounded by everyone that was just like us, wouldn’t it? Let’s hold that thought close.
Written with love,
Jac x