TreeGirl.org : Make love with the earth

Are YOU a TreeGirl?

I do not contest to be the Only TreeGirl- there are many of us out there! Decide for yourself if you are indeed a TreeGirl or TreeBoy, based on saying Yes to one or more of the following:

You love trees.
I mean you REALLLLY LOVE trees.
You hug, embrace or touch trees with gratitude, awe and affection.
You talk or sing to trees; trees talk or sing to you.
You climbed trees as a child, and are still inclined to do so.
You plant trees.
You are a botany geek that knows the Latin name of trees and fascinating scientific facts about them.
You don't care what the Latin or scientific names of trees are, you just call them by what they tell you they are.
You sit in trees for activism.
You sit in trees for leisure.
You work for or donate $ to a tree activist organization.
You feel drawn to certain trees when you see them; you want to connect with them; you may gasp, sigh, drool or call out at a certain tree; your heart may pound or your body may actually feel sensually aroused when you see a certain tree.
You have acorns, pine cones, tree seeds, leaves, branches or natural wood on your altar or around your home.
You'd rather live in a tree.
You wish you were a tree, or want to be in your next life.
You identify with or acknowledge "the Tree People".
You often prefer being in the company of trees than people.
You have made love in a tree, or was concieved in one.
You feel pain when you see urban tree pruning, cutting down or mulching of trees. You feel pain when you see forest trees being cut down.
You draw, paint, sculpt, write poetry or music about or for trees.
You've had "ineffable spiritual experiences" with trees.
Your ultimate goal is to "become the forest".
You enjoy being naked in nature.
You at times may prefer making love with the Earth, than a human. (see Make Love Definitions).
You take photos of yourself naked with trees (or really want to).

Artist's Statement

"Make Love with the Earth”

Julianne Skai Arbor

When you look at my photographs, what I hope you will see is not only a portrait of a woman intertwined with the landscape, but also a portrait of two lovers, caught by the camera.

When I am on a pilgrimage to photograph trees, it is as if I am about to meet a very old friend, or lover, whom I dearly love, whom I have never met. What is this anticipation? What is this connection? Why am I struck in awe by such beauty and presence that such a trees possesses? How is it that I can recognize a tree as an individual with character and personality just as a human? What are these words that I hear that go straight to my heart? Why is it that I feel completely safe and held, high up in a tree that I have foolishly climbed, clinging on with bare feet and bare hands?

At this point, my relationship with trees is a heart-mind-body-soul connection. And what I am advocating is a soulful relationship with the more-than-human-world.

My work as an artist is intertwined with my work as an educator, ecologist, arborist, artist and healer, just as an ecosystem’s parts are dependent upon one another for growth, transformation and evolution. The more that we recognize that there are no “others”, the more we feel at home, in the company of not only all other humans, but our more-than-human relations as well. In our increasing feeling of interconnectedness, we acknowledge that we are all here for the purposes of helping each other. We have much to learn from trees, and all living beings, (and also who we refer to as "non-living" elements of the Earth.)

The restoration that desperately needs to be done on the Earth must be done with soul.

There is a big mess ahead of us to clean up. Restoration is extremely intimate business. We are dealing with life and death and change here. We are making decisions for complex interconnected communities of beings (what science calls 'ecosystems'). Is there room for such emotion and spirit and creativity in the sciences of conservation and restoration?

In order for restoration to be a reciprocal act, we must marry science with spirit, knowledge with wisdom and scientific method with creativity. Though healing others, we also heal ourselves. We may "get something" out of planting a tree or simply stopping and acknowledging "it" as a "thou". The tree benefits; we benefit; the Earth benefits as we surrender control, and acknowledge the success of science at work as actually being a bit magical.

The wisdom we need to preserve and restore the Earth must come from not only the refined skills of research and observation, but conscious communication (active listening skills) with the natural elements as living holders of living, evolving and eternal knowledge; with the human elders and the shamans who have lived in intimate partnership with these ecosystems for generations; with our own creative souls; and the mysterious world of Spirit.

As a photographer, I am placing myself in the landscape to show that nature is where we belong- sometimes naked, sometimes vulnerable, in humility, with our shoes off and the wind blowing against our skin, ears open, listening to our lover, with all our heart and soul. I hope that my work inspires you to engage in not only interspecies communication, but interspecies intimacy as well.

For more, please see my Frequently Asked Questions.