Inventing Snow

Recently I visited Arnold Arboretum to stroll among the trees while they were still naked in their Winter dormancy. All season long I had been captivated by these monumental pillars of the natural world while they stood silently in the backdrop. Coming from the West, this was the first time I had ever seen most of these trees in their bare skeletons because the pictures commonly favored them in their full summer attire. It was amazing to experience what a difference it made with all their ephemeral features gone, especially the stillness, the silence.  As I walked, a question began to form in my mind: If you removed your beliefs, emotions, opinions, attitudes, politics, and anything else that was fleeting or learned, what form would be left?  It reminded me of a sticker that asked, “Who would you be without your story?”  » Read the rest of this entry «