Becoming
The tree does not hurry its becoming. It simply reaches for the light.
-CG Excellence
Finding Clarity in Stillness
Before my day makes its first demand, and after my morning walk, I find a tree, rest my palms against the trunk as though in prayer, and allow the steadiness in front of me to meet the movement still settling within me.
I began this practice simply by noticing something: my creative flow became more purposeful. Clarity arrived on my path forward, as a settling, the way water clears once it's finally left still.
Somewhere in that stillness, I remember the mission that steadies every action forward.
A Living Sanctuary
Writer Hermann Hesse described trees as sanctuaries, and believed that those who learn to truly listen to them come closer to truth. I understand that a little differently each time I stand beside a tree that has clearly weathered more seasons than I have.
A tree does not strain to become an oak, a maple, or a pine. It responds to light, season, soil, and wind, while growing entirely according to its own nature. It never once asks whether it is enough.
There is something in that I carry into my leadership and my own becoming. We are so often taught that evolution means becoming more, faster. The tree offers a different model: deepen the roots, receive what is available, release what is complete, and reach toward the light without abandoning the ground.
Naturalist John Muir left us a beautiful observation about a doorway to a new way of life existing between two pine trees. I've come to believe that doorway opens within us, the moment our attention becomes receptive enough to notice what has been waiting there all along.
Presence Before Direction
Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh wrote and taught extensively about mindful presence and our relationship with Mother Earth. His practice of walking gently upon the Earth, fully aware of the natural world around him, resonates deeply with my own morning ritual. Before I ask for direction, I make myself available to receive.
I notice the bark's texture, the ground beneath my feet, my breath slowing. I am there to enter into relationship with the living world, and to listen from within the exchange.
Botanist and writer Robin Wall Kimmererteaches reciprocity: that our relationship with the plant world is about what nature has given us along with the gratitude and care we return. I try to hold that same posture, arriving with a silent thank-you, or by simply leaving the place a little more undisturbed than I found it.
Servant leadership asks the same of us in every relationship,
What can I offer in return for what I have received?
Nature and Well-Being
I approach this practice with sincerity, its spiritual meaning belongs to faith and personal experience, not to a scientific claim.
Where science does offer growing support is on something adjacent and meaningful: time spent attentively in forest environments has been associated with reduced psychological stress and improvements in several measures of mood and restoration. Recent systematic reviews describe the findings as promising, while also emphasizing limitations in the existing evidence and the need for continued research.
For me, slowing down, sensory engagement, and relief from mental noise, create the conditions in which my own discernment finally has room to speak.
“Surrender to nature and nature’s rhythms if you want to be whole.” -Clay Jenkinson, reflecting on Henry David Thoreau
The Practice
Approach with permission. Choose a healthy tree, in a place where touching it is welcome and safe.
Become present. Rest both palms gently against the trunk. Take several slow breaths. Notice the bark, the air, the ground beneath you.
Name your intention. I silently ask for clarity, momentum, or the next right step, the one that requires the least resistance without compromising what is true.
Listen. Let your thoughts settle. Notice what feels simpler, what feels complete, what next step carries quiet integrity.
Close with reciprocity. Offer gratitude, then carry the insight forward through action.
The Path of Least Resistance
The path of least resistance is often the path with the greatest coherence, the one that allows me to honor my values, trust my intuition, and remain fully authentic.
A tree never confuses stillness with stagnation. Even when nothing appears to be happening, roots are gathering, cells are responding, and life is preparing its next expression. I have experienced seasons like that too, seasons where my progress became quieter before it became visible. My mission never wavered. It simply waited for me to catch up to it.
CG Excellence Reflection
What becomes clearer for you when you stop trying to force the way forward?
What might change if you approached nature not only as scenery, but as relationship?
What is one reciprocal act you can offer the world in return?
Which daily practice deserves your consistency, and which familiar pattern is ready to be interrupted?
Small steps forward, strengthen my capacity and deepen my trust in myself, the same way a tree adds one subtle ring of growth at a time. Consistency also invites me to stay open to inspiration. When the rhythm that once supported me becomes a loop, I interrupt it intentionally. A different path, an unexpected turn, or a pause can open space for fresh perception and renewed momentum.
Human evolution needs rhythm. It also needs renewal. I hold both, every morning, with one mission: to be an inspiration and guiding light.
Invitation
Consider this an invitation to engage more intentionally with your own becoming, and with the environments, relationships, and people you influence.
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Thank you for your kind attention today.
It is my hope that this reflection added value to your life.
Continue the journey with your invitation to subscribe for weekly inspiration.
Yours in service,
Christine
Sources & Further Reading
Plum Village - I Am in Love with Mother Earth
Robin Wall Kimmerer - Practical Reverence, Emergence Magazine
Hermann Hesse - Trees, writings collected in Wandering
National Park Service - John Muir Quotes
Andrade et al. (2026), Frontiers in Psychology - Shinrin-Yoku (forest bathing): a systematic review and meta-analysis
