What I'm Reading: The Hidden Life of Trees

It's winter here in Minnesota. We are currently covered in more than two feet of snow. Spring may be around the corner, but it feels very far away. I'm craving the company of green, living things. My house plants are doing their best, but I can't wait to walk through a lush forest of leaves again soon.

When you are overwhelmed with snow, there is no better book to turn to than the illustrated edition of The Hidden Life of Trees. This is a seriously gorgeous book. Is nature porn a thing? If so, this is it. You can't help but be captivated by these pictures of trees from all over the world. I put a little video below, flipping through some of the incredible pages so you can see for yourself.

Peter Wohlleben used to be a forester. He looked at trees as a commodity, lumber to be sold. But then he started to pay attention to the trees. He's no treehugger, but he has collected what he has learned about his experience with trees into this beautiful book. Now, Wohlleben manages a forest in his country of Germany on behalf of the community. Brain Pickings has an excellent summary of the unillustrated version of the book, and you can read an NPR review of the book or listen to the author himself talk about trees as social creatures.

I often look to nature for lessons on how to live a better life. We are surrounded by tall, 200 year old teachers who we can learn a lot from about our own humanity. Here are some things I learned from this book I believe we as humans have the potential to replicate for our own growth and sustainability:

• Openness: Trees develop dense networks with each other through the use of fungi to communicate. They are purposefully open to connection, reaching out and intertwining not only with other trees but with other kinds of plant and fungal life. Isolation is a hard life for a tree. The same goes for people. You don't have to do everything by yourself. How can opening up to giving and receiving enrich your life?
• Equity: Wohlleben says, "When trees grow together, nutrients and water can be optimally divided among them all so that each tree can grow into the best tree it can be." Trees do not hoard resources for their own benefit. Knowing that they will all be more successful if they grow together, trees freely give each other what they need in order for everyone to thrive. This is innately understood and doesn't need to be discussed, or overanalyzed, or demonstrated. For people, this example from nature can help us move beyond talking about equity to living equitably.
• Learning: Wohlleben talks about tree etiquette, and how trees learn how to behave and what to do. Sitting at the feet of their parents, young trees listen and observe. Their behavior is shaped by their environment, some things rewarded and other things curbed for the benefit of their survival. This is how trees learn how to be trees. Sitting at the feet of our parents and elders, we learn how to be human. How do you know what you know and where did that knowledge come from?

There is so much more I could say, but I promise you that if you were to pick up this book yourself, you would not be disappointed.