I recently came across a story about a woman who lived for 2 years in a giant redwood tree in a forest on the west coast of the USA. It forms part of a collection of first-person stories of courage in a book titled 'Women of Spirit€ (New World Library, 2001). Julia Hill's 2-year sojourn in the tree began as part of an environmental sit-in to stop loggers felling trees in an ancient forest. Most activists did a week stint at a time, either staying high up in a makeshift tree-house, or chained to the base of the tree, in both cases hindering the logging company from cutting down trees that were 1000 years old. Julia's 2-year stay started out as an act to get media attention to save the forest €“ but became something far deeper for herself. I was captivated by this inner journey.

On fire with the essence of life

In her account Julia describes entering the forest: 'I was overcome by the utter majesty that surrounded me. I dropped to my knees and began to cry. I sunk my fingers into the soil. I pressed my face against the earth. The experience was overpowering. This forest was a million years old. How does one grasp such a thing, such power, such history and beauty, such knowledge and spirituality? It all came rushing over me like a tidal wave. And I felt suddenly awakened to the deep connection of all things, to a memory older than comprehension. In every microorganism in the soil, in the stars light years away, and within me, within all of us, resides the connection. We are all part of creation, inherently linked. A spark lit, booofff, and I was on fire with the true essence of life.€ It reminded me of a personal experience in a tree in the Karoo where after several hours high up I could not walk and had to lie and sleep on the earth at the base of the tree before moving. Julia Hill says it this way: 'This amazing sense of love began to wash over me... I felt love filling up the great holes inside me. I realized that what I was feeling was unconditional love.€ Her story shows the inseparability between the environment and the spirit, how they are not two dimensions of life but creation itself. It also took me out the box of human awareness. I was left feeling that her inner shift to love and connectedness was more transformative than her political action; but maybe it takes both in this world.