Northwest Native American teaching story and the poet David Waggoner remind us how to remain unafraid.
Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is 60 Seconds, your daily dose of hope, imagination, wisdom, stories, practical tips, and general riffing on this and that.
Because it’s autumn and the true time for stories to be told, I’m borrowing a teaching story out of the Northwest Native American tradition that became a poem in the hands of David Waggoner. As the elders taught the children to remain unafraid in the forest, they may encourage you to remain unafraid in your lostness.
"Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you.
If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.
No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you." [David Wagoner - 1999]
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Production Team: Quarter Moon Story Arts
Music: Mer’s Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron Music
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