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Part One: The Tree
One day the wind was joyfully drifting across the land when it came across the most magnificent tree it had ever seen. The wind was awestruck by the tree’s beauty and utterly fascinated.
The tree welcomed the wind to dance along her branches and sing in her leaves. They squealed with delight at the beautiful music they made together! Neither of them could ever remember feeling quite so wonderful.
For many days, this was all either one of them wished to do. They danced and sang and played all day and into the night. Their experience together felt so incredible. They began to wish it would never end.
And they began to fear the inevitable day they would eventually part ways.
“Will you stay with me until the day my life force leaves this form?” asked the tree.
“Of course, my love,” replied the wind, for this was its truth in the moment.
“Will you stay with me until the day my life force leaves this form?” she asked again.
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But there were other moments in which the wind hesitated on this question. For it was in the wind’s nature to flow freely. And over time, this longing grew stronger.
The wind feared that it could not both be free and remain intimately connected with its beloved tree.
The wind and the tree continued to make beautiful music together, but the tree began to sense that the wind was a bit restless. And she began to fear that the wind would one day leave before her time in this world was complete.
“Will you stay with me until the day my life force leaves this form?” she asked again.
The wind hesitated a moment, then responded, “Of course, my love.” But this was only the wind’s partial truth in this moment. For the wind could feel life calling to it. Inviting it to be free.
The tree sensed the wind’s hesitation and asked, “Are there others whose branches and leaves you wish to play in?”
The wind once again hesitated, fearing how its honest answer in this moment would feel for the tree, and what she would decide in response.
The wind took a deep breath and spoke its truth: “I have never enjoyed singing and dancing with others the way I have enjoyed doing so with you, beautiful soul. But there is a part of me that longs to make music elsewhere as well. To taste the variety and adventure of life.”
Sadness, fear, and disappointment overwhelmed the tree’s heart. “But you said you wished to stay with me until the day my life force leaves this form.”
“I know, my love. And this is a beautiful desire. But I am the wind, and I long to be free.”
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“And I meant it every time I said it, my love,” the wind shared. “But this does not mean I do not wish to play elsewhere as well. And truly, all I can speak to is what I feel in each moment. I cannot know what the future holds.”
“We can choose the future in this moment,” replied the tree. “We can set an intention and make it so.”
“But what of change?” asked the wind. “How do I make decisions now for the unknown me I will one day be?”
“But I want you to stay with me and only me!” cried the tree, in the voice of her scared inner sapling.
“I know, my love. And this is a beautiful desire. But I am the wind, and I long to be free.”
“I don’t know that I can continue to invite you to dance and play with me knowing that you are dancing and playing with others,” said the tree. “It may be too much for me.”
Now it was the wind’s turn to feel the weight of sadness, fear, and disappointment.
“I don’t want to lose you, my love. I will stay with you. And perhaps one day you will feel ready.”
The wind and the tree continued their dance together, but it didn’t feel the same as it used to. The tree longed to be chosen and promised the forever of this world, and the wind longed for its freedom to roam the land in search of new connections and adventures.
It was the tree that spoke to this first:
“Oh beautiful wind, I see how you suffer. I see how you long to be free. I do not wish to limit you. I cannot stand to feel that I cause you to suffer. Perhaps it is time for you to move along and be free.”
“But what will become of us?” asked the wind. “May I return to you as I please?”
“I want to say yes,” replied the tree, with tears of sap running down her trunk, “but I do not feel that I can handle such fear and pain. It will be too much for me. I feel that I must let go in order to be free myself.”
The wind did not feel ready to say goodbye to the tree.
“I do not want to lose you, my love. You are too important to me,” the wind cried. “I will stay a bit longer, and perhaps you will soon feel ready for me to be free without needing to say goodbye.”
“You speak the truth, my love. I do need to be free. I just wish being free didn’t mean losing you.”
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The tree didn’t know if things would change for her, but she didn’t want to lose the wind either. She agreed to give it a bit more time.
There was a desperation to their dance over the next few months. A knowing that their time together may end at any moment, sending their song to both the heights of ecstasy and the depths of insecurity.
The letting-go process was already underway, but neither of them was fully aware.
It was the tree that once again spoke up:
“This is too painful for me. I feel that I can no longer watch you suffer. You long to be free. It is in your nature. You must not go against the truth of your being. You must follow your flow. You are the wind. Flow is what you are. You were never meant to stay in one place for this long.”
With a heavy heart, the wind responded:
“You speak the truth, my love. I do need to be free. I just wish being free didn’t mean losing you.”
“I wish this as well, but it is not who I am. I do not move as you move. I long for another that will stay here with me.”
They held one another and cried together for some time. They spoke of the beautiful times they’d shared. And they made the incredibly painful decision to part ways.
The tree said she would like the wind to come back one day, but she needed some time to grieve. The wind agreed to honor this and set an intention to one day return.
Part Two: The Wind
The wind once again blew across the land, this time full of sorrow. It tried playing in the leaves and branches of other trees, but it never felt the same, and it would quickly move on.
The wind began to wonder if it had made a huge mistake.
“Nothing feels the same,” the wind thought. “Perhaps I will never find another like my beloved tree.”
The wind longed to return to her, but it wished to honor her grieving period. So it continued to roam aimlessly across the land, longing for the one it could no longer have.
At times, the pain felt almost unbearable.
Over time, the wind began to miss the tree less. It began to think of her less often. And a renewed sense of hope slowly seeped in that everything would be okay.
The longing and loneliness didn’t go away, but these feelings were less frequent and less potent. Time and distance had created space to grieve, let go, and move on.
The time alone allowed space for the wind to connect with an essence beyond this world. It began to feel a deep inner knowing that it was never alone.
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Paradoxically, as the wind released its attachment to its beloved tree, it began seeking the company of others less often. It began roaming freely on adventures of its own, content with its own company. It began to enjoy it’s solo time like it never had before.
The time alone allowed space for the wind to connect with an essence beyond this world. It began to feel a deep inner knowing that it was never alone.
Part Three: The Flower
One day the wind was joyfully roaming the land when something caught its attention. The most beautiful, radiant being it had ever laid eyes on: an exquisite flower, like nothing it had ever seen.
The wind was reminded of its first encounter with the tree.
The flower invited the wind to playfully dance in her petals and delicately caress her stem. There was a powerful chemistry neither of them had ever experienced before, and they wanted more.
The wind was intoxicated. Drowning in bliss. It couldn’t get enough of this wondrous creature!
But fear was also present. Fear that one day, the time would come to roam free, and it would have to say goodbye to this angelic being.
The wind didn’t know if it could handle another painful goodbye.
“I have learned that it is in my nature to be free, and I’m afraid I will have to choose between remaining with you and flowing freely in the world,” the wind answered.
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The wind decided to keep its fear to itself and attempt to enjoy the time it had with the flower as long as it lasted. But the wind’s heart soon grew restless, and the flower sensed this.
“What’s on your mind, sweet wind?” asked the flower. “You seem distressed.”
The wind hesitated. “Nothing. I’m okay.”
“You can tell me, my dear.” The flower replied. “I would like to know of the internal dance of your beautiful mind.”
“I am afraid,” the wind hesitantly responded.
“What is it that you’re afraid of?” asked the flower.
“I have learned that it is in my nature to be free, and I’m afraid I will have to choose between remaining with you and flowing freely in the world,” the wind answered.
The flower reflected on this for a moment, then responded: “My time on this plane is short. And I wish to spend it with you.”
“And do you wish to spend this time exclusively with me,” the wind asked, “or do you wish me to follow my nature and connect freely with others in the world?”
“I wish to deeply partner with you,” she replied. “To dive into the depths of our souls together during this brief and magical time we have with one another. I do not feel that I will be able to do this with you if you are choosing others as well.”
Great sadness, fear, and disappointment returned to the wind’s heart. This was what it had feared. The same painful choice it had faced with its beloved tree.
But this also felt different. Its beloved tree would likely be around for hundreds of years. The radiant flower goddess would last merely a season.
The wind made a decision: “Then let us dive into the depths together and allow our brilliance to shine on one another during this precious time we have been given.”
And so they did.
Together, they dove into light and shadow. Their intense chemistry provoked parts of one another to the surface that neither one of them had ever encountered before. Their experience together was deeply beautiful, radiantly alive, hideously repulsive, and darkly disturbing, sometimes seemingly all at once. And through it all, they returned to love with one another, time and time again.
All of this unfolded under the backdrop of the painfully ever-present knowing that their time was very limited and their experience together would soon come to an end.
And as the radiant flower’s life force began to leave her earthly form, they held one another and lived the forever of their final moments together in this world.
Part Four: Home
The wind grieved deeply for the loss of the radiant flower’s presence in its life. What a gift and adventure it had been to deep dive into their own and one another’s dark and beautiful souls together.
The wind knew it would likely feel the pain of this loss for some time. But it wished to courageously keep its heart open and use the suffering as medicine for healing, learning, transformation, and expansion into greater depths of love, as the flower had taught it.
The wind grieved greatly for the loss of its radiant flower, but it did not grieve for the flower herself. For it somehow knew she had merely transitioned to a new form and returned to an exquisitely beautiful world that mirrored her radiant beauty. It was the same knowing the wind had of its own eternal beauty and well-being that it had discovered during its time alone.
And it was back home to its own heart, and to connect with that which is beyond this world of form, that the wind returned during this period of grief.
And over time, its heart began to heal, and fierce gratitude returned.
Part Five: The Waterfall
Sometime later, the wind was effortlessly drifting through the land when it came across a sight beyond anything it had ever imagined: A thunderous waterfall! The wind was instantly drawn to its power and beauty.
The waterfall invited the wind to dance in it’s falling waters and sing in its splash. It was a mutually delightful experience that neither one of them could get enough of!
The wind felt joy like it hadn’t experienced in quite some time. But it also noticed fear entering its heart. Fear of one day having to once again say goodbye to something so beautiful.
“Why does great joy always seem to come with great fear?” the wind wondered.
The wind decided to be the one to bring up the fear this time, instead of waiting for the other:
The wind’s heart lit up. “It is in your nature to roam freely like me?”
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“My liquid love, I am so enjoying our delicious time together. But I fear for the day I will wish to roam freely and have to leave you behind.”
“Why would you have to leave me behind?” asked the waterfall.
“Because I am the wind, and I move and dance across the land. This is who I am. This is what I do.”
“And what is it that you imagine I do?” asked the waterfall. “I am water. I roam the land freely as you do. Up into the sky, back down upon this plain. I am everywhere all at once!”
The wind’s heart lit up. “It is in your nature to roam freely like me?”
“Yes!” replied the waterfall. “Freedom is who I am.”
“Freedom is who I am!” the wind exclaimed. “Are you saying that I don’t have to choose? That I can roam freely and still dance and sing with you? That I can come and go as I please?”
“Of course!” answered the waterfall. “It’s what I’ve been doing all along.”
“You have?” asked the wind.
“Yes!” the waterfall replied. “I’ve been playing in the clouds, in the soil. Everywhere my spray reaches. Everywhere my water flows. This is my joy.”
“This is my joy!” cried the wind.
And they laughed and danced and played, together and apart, for many years to come.
Part Six: The Reunion
One day thoughts of the wind’s beloved tree entered its mind, and it wondered if enough time had passed for a return visit.
The wind decided to visit and watch from afar, to get a better sense of whether or not she would be ready.
Along the journey, the wind was flooded by a surprising amount of emotion. The wind clearly still had many feelings for its beloved tree.
The wind was surprised, delighted, and afraid upon its arrival.
The tree now had a family.
In her branches sat a nest of chirping baby birds. Others had made their home with her.
The wind decided to approach.
The tree was delighted by the wind’s return and once again invited it to dance in her branches and sing in her leaves.
“But what of your new family?” asked the wind. “Are they open to me playing with you?”
“Why of course,” tweeted mama bird.
“Yes,” said papa bird.
“Tweet, tweet, tweet!” came cries of joy from the nest.
“So I can have connection and freedom with you?” asked the wind. “I don’t have to choose?”
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“Our beloved tree has told us so much about you,” said papa bird. “We would be delighted for you to play with her. And with us as well! We were all hoping you would one day return.”
“Really?” asked the wind.
The wind turned to the tree. “Is this what you want?”
“The birds have taught me much about love,” the tree answered. “And much time has passed and I feel differently than I used to. Our time apart allowed me the space to let go of what was, return home to myself, and allow for something new.”
“And what of me being free?” asked the wind.
“I always wished for you to be free,” answered the tree. “This is why I felt I had to let you go. And in setting you free, I set myself free. And I now feel ready for what I wasn’t ready for before I let go.”
“So I can have connection and freedom with you?” asked the wind. “I don’t have to choose?”
“It may not be easy for me at times,” said the tree. “But I am now at a place in which I feel I can handle the fear and discomfort that arises. That it will not be too much for me. And I have a beautiful new family that is so wise in these matters and will be here for me as well.”
“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” asked the wind.
“Yes,” the tree answered. “I want you in my life. And you may come and go as you please.”
And with this incredible invitation, the wind danced once more through the branches of its beloved tree, creating beautiful music with her leaves and with a new symphony of voices from the beautiful beings that had made their home with her.
The wind came and went as it pleased, visiting quite often, and the tree welcomed the wind and all the feelings that arose for her throughout its comings and goings. The birds remained and helped nurture the tree through her fear. And they all sang and danced in celebration each time the wind returned.
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Photo credit: Pixabay
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