Bedtime with Captain EJ.
Today we will be up on the Honey Bee Hilltop,
Where we can look out over all there is to see.
The forest below suddenly appears not as one big forest,
But individual trees standing together as if they want to show us something.
All you have to do is close your eyes,
Get cozy,
And listen to the sound of my voice.
Captain EJ will lead the way.
EJ,
Let's begin.
You are here,
High up on this quiet hill,
Sitting up tall among the trees.
Look your face all the way to one side until you can feel a little stretch.
See the boundless forest populated by trees of all shapes and sizes.
Turn your face all the way to the other side,
Where the trees seem just as endless,
Until you can feel a little stretch.
Bring your gaze back to a comfortable center and look up to the sun as it shines down on you.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Feel your chest expand out,
Full of fresh forest air,
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth,
And root yourself into the earth,
Letting yourself be heavy and supported.
At the same time,
Stretch your neck up tall so your ears are as far away from your shoulders as possible at the tallest tree below.
A gentle breeze blows softly against your skin,
Rustling all the leaves at different times in different intervals like a natural orchestra.
A single leaf loosens from a branch and floats through the air in an extended,
Winding loop.
It dances around you before continuing on down the hill,
Finally resting on the green grass.
A little blue bird swoops down to pick it up since it's perfect for her nest.
When she does,
You can see that the littlest white mushroom is what stopped the tumbling leaf in its path.
Once you notice that,
You begin to notice all the other tiny white mushrooms that jut up from the soil as if they are trying to stand as tall and strong as the trees.
What your eyes cannot see,
But you can feel,
If you let yourself,
Is the ecosystem all these things seemingly disconnected parts create.
Neither the bird,
Nor the leaf,
Nor the mushroom exists on its own.
They are all part of a wonderful,
Wonder-filled,
Interconnected fabric.
Take another slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Bring your awareness down into your chest as if you could see out of your heart as it beats once,
Twice,
Three times.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and allow yourself to see the ecosystem in action with laser-like infrared vision.
Now looking at the same forest below,
Down the same grassy hill you're seated comfortably on,
You can see heat and electricity trailing like invisible telephone wires through the whole forest.
This network sits under the earth and is topped by a fresh layer of soil with crunchy brown leaves.
The little white mushroom you saw before has a trail of electricity networked out to hundreds of trees below and those trees to other trees.
The mushrooms,
Which are the basis for all underground communication in the forest,
Help trees talk to each other just like phones and computers help us communicate.
And in this forest,
Like all the forests of the earth,
Someone's always saying something.
You are always surrounded by an invisible world of wonder just waiting to greet you.
Reach out one of your arms to extend outward like a tree branch.
It touches the bark of an oak tree that appears beside you,
Sprouted from the grass with roots that stretch out from where you both are planted.
As the tree grows taller and taller,
It sprouts leaves and acorns.
When the next burst of wind swells up on the hilltop,
The acorn wiggles and drops from the tree.
It rolls all the way down the hill and buries itself in the soil,
Tucking itself into the warmth and restorative darkness that comes with closing your eyes to sleep for the night.
Where there wasn't a tree before,
Suddenly one sprouts.
A tiny white mushroom sends an electrical current down the hill from the parent oak tree to the baby oak tree as it grows.
This is how each tree keeps in contact with its family as it spreads to create a forest.
Following the glowing networks from this oak tree beside you to see where its offspring have planted themselves below.
The mushrooms connect them all,
And as their communication glows and grows,
Imagine the tree sharing stories,
Jokes,
And other necessary information just like people have told you.
Take another slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Feel your chest and your spirits lift as if you've heard the funniest tree joke,
And slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth,
And let yourself be heavy and sink into the soft green grass.
The oak tree beside you has grown so much that it now provides shade from the blazing sun above.
Suddenly you hear another bluebird squawk as it approaches you.
On your other side,
You reach your other hand up toward the friendly little bird.
It lands on your outstretched finger and drops the littlest apple seed in your hand.
The bird hops down to the grass in the shade of the oak tree and digs its beak into the soil.
Without knowing how,
You know,
You understand that you should put the apple seed in this little hole.
When you do,
The bird covers it back up with soil and takes two sticks back to his nest with him.
Take another slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Feel the sensation of your heart beating once,
Twice,
Three times,
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth,
And watch as the mushrooms send a love and kindness in your heart from the ground beneath you all the way down to the forest below.
The entire ecosystem glows and grows to include you as well.
Here in this world,
As in others,
You are an important part of the wonder that floats through the air and travels underground.
As part of this fabric,
You are always already deeply interconnected to an infinite web of wonder,
Most of which is invisible and waits buried beneath the surface for you to see.
That concludes our story.
I can't wait to see you again.
Captain EJ,
Over and out.
