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...

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...