SELF-CARE AND THE TREE OF LIFE

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TREE METAPHORa tree can explain many ideas about l i fe:

•Mat 12:33 "If you grow a healthy tree, you'll pick healthy fruit. If you grow a diseased tree, you'll pick worm-eaten fruit. The fruit tells you about the tree.•Luke 6:43 "You don't get wormy apples off a healthy tree, nor good apples off a diseased tree. 44 The health of the apple tells the health of the tree. You must begin with your own life-giving lives. 45 It's who you are, not what you say and do, that counts. Your true being brims over into truer words and deeds.•And many more…..•Luke 13:6-9; Luke 21:29-32; Romans 11:16-24; Rev. 2:7; Rev. 22:2

(The Message)

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THE CROWN•ONLY 10% OF TREE’S OVERALL BIOMASS (60-70% of profile, area, space used)

•MOST CONSPICUOUS PART OF THE TREE•ANY ‘ODDITIES’ MOST OBVIOUS IN THE CROWN (GALLS, BLIGHTS, INSECT DAMAGE, DEFORMED BRANCHING / TOP, ETC.)•PROVIDES ‘NESTS FOR EAGLES’ (Mark 4:32); FRUITS; PHOTOSYNTATE FOR TREE GROWTH, VIGOR, REPRODUCTION, ETC.

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THE TRUNK (bole)•UP TO 45% OF TREE’S OVERALL BIOMASS•STILL CONSPICUOUS BECAUSE IS ABOVE GROUND•AFFORDS STRUCTURE AND NUTRIENT TRANSPORT TO THE ROOTS (XYLEM / PHLOEM); OFFERS STRENGTH AND SUPPORTS THE CROWN, FRUIT, ETC.•SUSCEPTIBLE TO WOUNDING, INFECTION COURTS, INSECTS, DISEASES, ETC.

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THE ROOTS•OVER 45% OF TREE’S BIOMASS•UNSEEN; HIDDEN BENEATH THE GROUND•PROVIDES FOOD (NUTRIENTS) FOR TREE’S SURVIVAL•ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL FOR CONTINUED PROPAGATION, ANCHORING IN THE WIND, STABILITY, AND HEALTH/VIGOR.•SUCEPTIBLE TO TOXINS, DISEASES, PESTS IN THE SOIL MATRIX.

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TREE METAPHOR:COMPARISON OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE OF LIFE (THE ECO-MODEL):

LIFE IN THE CONSCIOUS10%+ OF WHAT WE PERCEIVE, FEEL, EXPERIENCE

LIFE IN THE NEAR-CONSCIOUS< 45% OF WHAT WE PERCEIVE, FEEL, EXPERIENCE

LIFE IN THE UNCONSCIOUS< 45% OF WHAT WE PERCEIVE, FEEL, EXPERIENCE

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WHAT DOES THIS METAPHOR TELL US ABOUT OUR OWN LIFE JOURNEY?

THE CONSCIOUS10% OF WHAT WE PERCEIVE, FEEL, EXPERIENCE IS WHAT WE SPEND MOST OF OUR TIME TRYING TO “FIX”

COGNITIVE, BEHAVIOURAL, RATIONAL THINKING i.e. “THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING”

Driven by LOGIC and LANGUAGE; THE SPOKEN / WRITTEN WORD

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WHAT DOES THIS METAPHOR TELL US ABOUT OUR OWN LIFE JOURNEY?

THE NEAR-CONSCIOUS45% OF WHAT WE PERCEIVE, FEEL,

EXPERIENCE IS MOSTLY TOTALLY IGNORED

REACHED THROUGH IMAGERY, FEELINGS, RITUAL, REFLECTION, MEDITATION…

BEYOND LANGUAGE, AND THE SPOKEN / WRITTEN WORD – KEY WORD = INTUITION

WE CAN’T GET TO A PLACE OF HEALING EXCEPT THROUGH TRUNK…

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WHAT DOES THIS METAPHOR TELL US ABOUT OUR OWN LIFE JOURNEY?

THE UNCONSCIOUS

45% OF WHAT WE PERCEIVE, FEEL, EXPERIENCE IS UNSEEN, HIDDEN FROM VIEW…

BEYOND THOUGHT, WORD & DEED -- CAN ONLY BE REACHED VIA INTERNAL REFLECTION

The are NO ABSOLUTES here

KEY WORD = LIMINALITY

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WHAT DOES THIS METAPHOR TELL US ABOUT OUR OWN LIFE JOURNEY?

THE UNCONSCIOUS

In this place we are mostly

UNAWAREWhat we desire is to

ALLOW THE HIDDEN UNCONSCIOUS TO SURFACE AND TO BE ‘NOTICED’

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WHAT DOES THIS METAPHOR SHOW US?

THE UNCONSCIOUSIS LIKE:

THE SOIL SUBSTRATE IT CONTAINS HIDDEN ANXIETIES, FEARS, FEELINGS, ETC.

“TOXINS” TO BE ‘REAL’-IZED – JUST LIKE THIS POGO CARTOON

VERY OFTEN THE ‘TOXINS ARE PART OF US…

Consciousness (Cognitive mind)

Sensory Awareness(Experiential)

Self-revelation

Intuitive(near-conscious)

The Awareness Pyramid

• Making real what is…“The truth is what the truth is.

We can choose to be aware,

or we can choose to be unaware,

but the truth doesn’t change.”

• Explore from the roots to the shoots

MAKING THE UNCONSCIOUS – CONSCIOUS

Self-care is really about:

Maaku anoo e hanga tooku nei whare

“ “I shall fashion my own house”I shall fashion my own house”

ANOTHER WHAKATAUKI METAPHOR

NEXT TIME:SELF CARE

VIEWED THROUGH LENS OF

WHARE TAPA WHA