Last night I was lying on the couch watching the trees outside move in the wind. I thought, those trees look like they're alive. Then I thought, they are alive. Then, of course, I thought of Ents. Then I wondered if anyone ever had a tree-phobia. Then I wondered if there were any horror movies about tree-monsters. I remember the vine-raping incident in Evil Dead (or Evil Dead 2?) which haunted me after I was forced to see it by my friend Jen in 7th grade. Turns out there is a tree phobia--it's called Dendrophobia. From what I've read the symptoms are similar to a panic attack. Which is interesting because I was having a panic attack when I went to lie on the couch to stare at the tree.
This is from a website that offers a Tree Phobia clinic (it actually kind of seems like a load of crock):
Like all fears and phobias, tree phobia is created by the unconscious mind as a protective mechanism. At some point in your past, there was likely an event linking trees and emotional trauma. Whilst the original catalyst may have been a real-life scare of some kind, the condition can also be triggered by myriad, benign events like movies, TV, or perhaps seeing someone else experience trauma.
But so long as the negative association is powerful enough, the unconscious mind thinks: "Ahh, this whole thing is very dangerous. How do I keep myself from getting in this kind of situation again? I know, I'll attach terrible feelings to trees, that way I'll steer clear in future and so be safe." Just like that tree phobia is born. Attaching emotions to situations is one of the primary ways that humans learn. Sometimes we just get the wiring wrong.
This is from another website doing much of the same thing, though the irony is, they use a tree metaphor to explain the technique:
Several years ago, a psychologist specializing in phobias like dendrophobia, made an amazing discovery.
He kept up-to-date with all the leading therapies. And no matter what therapy modality he tried, the cure rate of phobias like dendrophobia was less than 5%. Oh sure, patients made progress. But it was only incremental. And therapy took years, not months.
Then he made an amazing discovery and his ability to eliminate dendrophobia soared to over 80%.
What was the discovery? It was so simple, but nobody thought of looking there before.
Here it is, and it is called The Discovery Statement:
"The cause of all negative emotions
is a disruption in the body's energy system."
Note what he didn't say. He didn't say that it was in your thoughts, habits, beliefs, strategies or any other thing (although they do play a factor). Those are "the branches".
The energy system is "the root". And from this root the field of Energy Psychology was born.
But this is all besides the point. I was just walking back from the cafe and surrounded by many impossibly tall trees, which is the lovely thing about working at Mills. And was thinking about how we somehow have taught ourselves to see through trees. We rarely notice them. I mean, perhaps I should speak for myself since I have always joked that if I went hiking I could be found crouched behind a boulder in platforms, pouring a martini & smoking a cigarette, AbFab style. Maybe it's because we can't really look at them directly for long, as BC & I were talking about a few days ago. There is so much to see in a tree, it's difficult for your eye to focus on a single leaf or branch for long. Much like a Pollack.
The first time I took acid, we went to Central Park at night & I will never forget the feeling of seeing these two trees--one's branches leaned clearly to one side towards the other tree, like reaching out. The other's branches went straight up, seeming to rebuff the other's advances. It made me so sad that my friends had to pry me off the tree which I was hugging & telling it that it would be alright. Later, I remember climbing into a little fenced in 2'x2'grassy area that had one tree in the center (common in Manhattan)... It's pretty hilarious now when I think of it. Little angsty teenage me trying to save the emotional lives of trees. But maybe they have them. Not to anthropomorphize trees, but I have seen grouchy & spritely ones.
I used to nanny this little boy, who when he was about 1 1/2, would always stop at this one little tree. He'd sit down on the steps & watch it. Sometimes he'd stand up & mimic the tree moving in the wind. Once he told me that the tree was dancing.
The one I watched yesterday had some of it's branches sticking out & it seemed to pat the apartment building in the wind, like it was protecting or consoling it.
I don't know how to end this post, except to say, yes, I KNOW.
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