I know your feeds and lives are surely as inundated with politics as mine, it’s hard to escape right now, no matter how much we’d like to just let it all fade away. So I’d like to shift the focus of this here correspondence to other topics. Namely, I wanted to catch you all up on what’s going on in my world and tell you about my hopes and dreams for the future. That feels the most fitting at this moment.
I am a dreamer. I’m an aspirational thinker, and I like coming up with ideas. I like to imagine the end product, a final event, the payoff after hard work and dedication. I like to explore possibilities and let my mind range as if there are no limitations. When I think of something that really resonates with me, something that I feel excited about sinking my teeth into, something that I think is new or interesting or challenging, then I begin to consider what it would take to achieve it, to make it happen.
To some degree this has made me a planner: I essentially think backwards about a goal or project and consider what I would need to do to get there, then I place those steps in front me of me and say, “Ok, here’s what you’d have to do to get there.” If I think the juice is worth the squeeze, so to speak, then I set out on that path.
Well, I finished the first round of edits for my upcoming tree identification guide, The Trees Around You: How to identify common neighborhood trees in the Pacific Northwest, in late October. It was the last of three big deadlines that I had to meet (and, naturally, I was feverishly working in the 11th hour to finish each of them), and it took a toll on me. I felt out of balance with my life, and I felt sort of dazed. I felt this way for two main reasons. The first is a product of that moment: I did a poor job balancing that work with the rest of my life. It felt like I was coming out from under a rock, readjusting to the bright lights and laughter around me. It was hard to turn my brain off and refocus elsewhere. I was tired.
The second reflects my world writ large: what now? Professionally—and personally as it were, as those aspects of my life often run together—I’ve spent a little more than the past year focused heavily on one project. As the workload on my end slows on that project, I’m left with proverbial idle hands. I think for the first time in my life I am looking forward without a specific thing that I’ve got ahead of me; the path in front of me is wide open. On one hand that’s exciting and exhilarating, but on the other hand it’s petrifying.
Since I can remember I’ve always given a lot of thought big decisions. I’ve labored over what choice to make when, and where I should focus my energy. Whether it’s moving to a new city or choosing which college I should go to or if I should quit my job, it’s always been something I considered deeply. And when I finally made my choice, I felt confident in it. I felt I had done my due diligence and chosen my own path. However, each time I knew precisely what I stepping away from and what I was stepping toward. At this moment, though, I know what I am completing, but not what I am about to start.
Truthfully, I’ve never felt as unsettled and untethered as I do now. I feel simultaneously like I’ve got the world in front of me but also I feel uncertain as to where to go in it. It’s a strange sensation, at least for me, and after the election I feel it’s been kicked into another gear—for worse, not better. It’s a new layer to work through.
So I am sort of left here to start dreaming again, to start imagining what could be next and how I can achieve. Normally, I’d have already done this part, but this time I am starting from scratch in the moment. I’ve been reflecting and dreaming, scheming and searching for my next moves and thinking about what it’ll take to get there. I’m shooting even higher this time and holding on to the feelings that I can do it, I can make it happen, and that regardless, I’ll get through this. We all will.
As we move into the new year, you’ll hear more about the plans I’m contemplating now. I am exciting to be dreaming again, and I’m excited for new projects despite the current air of what I can only describe right now as hopelessness. There is something to say for stubbornly believing in yourself and holding on to optimism even when it feels hard. I hope to lean on you, my dear community, to help find my path, so thanks in advance. And as always, I hope you too can lean on me again.
Ok, ok some tree stuff
If you’ve made it this far, thank you. Your reward is a short list of cool things I think you should know about.
TREE: Exploring the Arboreal world
I am so pleased that I was asked to contribute to this beautiful book as a member of their international advisory panel and as a writer: I helped review the art choices and I wrote a few texts describing the pieces. Truly an honor to be a part of it, and I know you or your tree friends will absolutely love it, so go snag one.
Completely Arbortrary Shirt Sale
We are having a huge shirt sale at the podcast, so if you want to support the show and get an awesome tee with art made by independent artists, now’s the time. 25% off our Douglas-fir tee (designed by Lianne Pflug) and our Tree Buds tee (designed by Tori Gorham). So go snag a tee for you or a friend this holiday season.
Mark your Calendars!
Treevia Night!
I am putting on another Treevia night! This one on is set for December 22, 2024 at Arbor Beer Lodge in Portland, and I just can’t wait. It’ll be a bit more traditional compared to the first one Alex and I put on a few years ago, but it’ll be just as fun. So mark your calendars for that, and keep an eye out for more details over the next few weeks.
Science on Tap
I’m excited to announce that I’ll be a speaker with Science on Tap this winter! I’ll be talking about how trees grow and build themselves and they withstand intense weather. It’s going to be a really fun time, so mark your calendars for Wednesday February 12, 2025! More details to come as they set settled.
Conferences
I’m excited to also announce that I’ll be a keynote speaker at a few events this winter time. January 22-24, 2025 I’ll be speaking at the Idaho Horticulture Expo in Boise, and February 16-18, 2025 I’ll be a speaker at the Wisconsin Arborist Association’s Annual Conference in Green Bay, WI. I’d love to see you there, so sign on up!