Welcome and thank you for signing up for this course. I am delighted that you’ve made it here. I imagine you may have signed up for the course for a range of different reasons. Maybe, just like me, you’ve harboured a secret love of trees? Or maybe you’re someone who is finding it tricky in finding the right words and sentiments to write about what nature means to you. Perhaps you’re here because you appreciate nature but are finding that you don’t get to spend as much time in nature as you would like. Whatever your reason is perfect.
I never imagined as a young writer that my life stories and lessons would come to life through discovering my unexpected connection to trees and nature. Had it not been for an episode in my late thirties that saw me consciously opening and communing to the trees in my neighbourhood and mother nature I would have missed the often subtle wisdom, inspiration and sense of well-being trees and nature have so generously bestowed on me.
If trees and nature can speak to me, they can speak to you. I so want you to have intuitive access to the lessons trees and nature tells about who we are, how we have lived and how we can live going forward. Our planet more than ever needs us each to be deeply rooted to the earth wisdoms that organically teaches us so much about our lives in divine and unexpected ways.
This course is both practical and metaphysical. It’s as much about trees and nature outdoors as it is about the inner nature that defines the true you. I hope these essays and writing exercise speak the language of trees and nature to you as much as they have to me. Thank you for choosing to journey with Writing Through The Wisdom Of Trees.
Course Outline & What to Expect
After a Prepare lesson, you will receive five different tree long form essays and series of nature themed writing/journal prompts, concluding with an Endings and Reflections lesson. The lessons are to savour. Grab a cup of your favourite drink, a nice spot to sit and a blanket or shawl to keep you warm if need be. We suggest the lessons can be undertaken weekly, but you can find your own pace.
Sink into stories of trees, trees located near our homes and in our neighbourhoods that have meaning and purpose. Trees that will have you thinking about your own relationship with nature, both the nature around us and the nature that is us. This course blends, memoir around the themes of nature and the environment and social history.
This course will introduce you to five trees that mark pivotal moments in my own life: Oak, Tamarind, Baobab, Beech and Apple. You will discover my personal relationship with each tree and why the tree is meaningful to me. Each essay will introduce you to a new tree. The essay will end with a series of Inner Nature Journal prompts that will help you bring the outside in and the inside out.
Together we will give voice to our own tree memories and stories as we bring to life the significant and pivotal part many trees have played in our lives. Even if you don’t see yourself as having a strong connection with trees or nature, you may well be surprised by what is discovered in this self guided course.
Think of this course as self care on the page. With the increased conversations and work around the green therapeutic benefits of forest therapy, this course invites you to have trees accompany you as you explore in this unique way.
Please proceed to Lesson 1: Personal Welcome Video (scroll down below Jackee’s photo and bio and you will see the whole course outline there – simply click on lesson 1 and let the course begin…)
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About Jackee Holder, Course Author
Jackee Holder is a Londoner by birth and residence. She enjoys exploring the urban landscapes and green spaces of the urban city she fondly calls home. A regular walker she writes and teaches about the restorative benefits of walking and writing. Jackee appreciates the diverse forest of street trees that inhabit the city which became the world’s first national park city in 2019 hosting an impressive forty-seven percent green space. The diversity of the population of the city of London is mirrored across London through its rich tree heritage. I like to take the trees I know and love into my writing as they help me tell and shape the stories of my life.
Jackee is a long-time journal writer and hard wired reflective practitioner who enjoys engaging creatively and intuitively with outer and inner landscapes. Jackee is the author of four non-fiction titles including the illustrated Writing With Fabulous Trees – a writing map for parks, gardens and other green spaces and 49 Ways To Write Yourself Well. She holds a Masters in Creative Writing & Personal Development and Post Graduate Diploma (PGDip) in Psychosynthesis Counselling. She works as a professional business coach and leadership trainer. Jackee is delighted to be an IAJW Council Member.