Speaker 1: Ernie is by Blue Crown Conyer. For over thirty years,
he's overlooked this forest in South Charlotte, North Carolina. Every day,
Ernie sits in his beautiful home, overlooking the trees, the
nearby lake, and every bit of the wildlife. Strolling through
such an amazing piece of Mother Earth. Ernie and I
share the same visions. It's this forest. We both look
into the trees and study the path below. There's something
very spiritual about this forest. We both receive an amazing
amount of energy. I put all of my trust and
skills as a student into what he sees and is
willing to share with me. These aren't my words, These
are the lyrics from Ernie's Forest, chapter number four hundred one,
December fifth, twenty twenty three. We have spent so much
time in this forest today, so many leaves have fallen
from the trees that I'm relying on my own memory
as to where the path really is. The dangerous part
of the journey is not being able to see the
above ground tree roots. You know, the stuff that you
normally trip over during the summer days, but now they're
buried beneath. These leaves don't on a face plant. So
I sit here and I wonder about how long it's
going to take to fully recover. The forest has always
been vibrant in the way of tapping into your inner
willingness to disappear from the world for several miles, because
once you're inside the lower layers of the rolling hills,
the Internet connection is null and void. The only way
out is to keep moving forward. Unlike a greenway, these
hills are extremely steep and ever so willing to steal
your only breath, so much time just listening. The wind
has a bright voice, while the jazz created by the
playful birds dances inside your steps. Called the present, living
in the moment of now. You don't have to have
a forest in order to find your connection to mother Nature.
You can step into a city park, or maybe even
just take a walk on a city sidewalk, go to
a mall, a Starbucks, get into a moment of now
where you feel that edge of nothingness. It's not numb.
You're not ignoring the world. You're just putting yourself in
front of everything else. Be in your moment. Feel the
way you want to feel and not how other people
want you to grow. That's what's great. About being out
here on your own is that you get to make
the decisions. If it's a bad one, you deal with.
If it's a good one, you celebrate it. I'm Maril.
These aren't my words. These are the lyrics from Ernie's
Forest