Naif in the Forest by Darrell Berger

Wing Tips to Hiking Boots: Musings of a New, Full-Time Poconos Resident 

I walk through the same part of the forest almost every day. I noticed that the higher portion of this tree had fallen. I saw the fresh, clean area where it had broken, and the part that was still upright. There has been little new deadfall since the big storm two years ago. 

Deadfall had been a new word to me when I started writing this blog. I didn’t know the forest. I would not have recognized the woodpecker’s fresh drilling upon the log, or appreciated the new environment for fungus, insects and small mammals it will provide. I examined the fallen tree. Why did it fall in this direction? Was there structural weakness, storm damage? 

To my surprise, I may no longer be a naïf in the forest, that is, an innocent or ignoramus, depending on the kindness of one’s judgment.  After more than a year of observing the forest my perception has sharpened. I no longer see the forest with completely new eyes. The seasons are more apparent to me, the interdependent lives of forest dwellers more meaningful. 

I am far from an expert. Perhaps I have gone from ignorance to what Zen Buddhism calls “beginner’s mind.” Suzuki Roshi said, “In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few.” The naïf doesn’t see the path. The beginner sees it and has just begun the journey. The expert knows the path so well the beauty of the journey is diminished. Beginner’s mind helps sharpen one’s perception, challenges prejudices and obviates the tendency to quit in the face of new challenges. I’ll keep the name of the bog, however, as my capacity to get lost even in familiar territory, literally or figuratively, is vast. 

The forest provides endless variety to those who have eyes to see. Beginner’s mind is useful whenever we find ourselves incapacitated by the limits of our experience or expectations. The path through the forest helps me awaken to possibilities elsewhere in life. A newly fallen tree is notable, and any moment teachable.