I am asking for a forest from my friends

Friends list? Could you do me a favor? I would like to enlist your help, if you are willing, in a sort of art project.

Could you please give me a tree?

Here is an excerpt from a previous post I did about a couple of my icons:

and Both of these icons (as well as my default icon) are representations of what I have come to call the Holy Tree. I first became aware of the term by reading Tolkien: he loved trees dearly, and they became central to his mythology, as depicted in The Silmarillion. (In the first manifestation of the world, there was no sunlight or moonlight. Instead, there were the Two Holy Trees, Telperion and Laurelin, from which shone golden and silvery light.)

Telperion and Laurelin, the Trees of Valinor

This idea has mingled in my imagination with my favorite poem of all, Yeat's The Two Trees. (I was introduced to it by Loreena McKennitt, who sang it as a song on her album The Mask and the Mirror.) The poet speaks of a magical tree which grows within the human heart, and contrasts that with a false vision of a blasted, barren tree, which may be seen when demons hold up their bitter glass (a mirror). To me, this poem is about one of the central struggles of my life, and it words it so beautifully. I am too apt to believe the demons who hold up the bitter glass, and show me a vision of a blasted and barren tree. I have been trying to see more clearly the holy tree, which the poet assures me grows within my own heart. The song is also a damn good description of cognitive therapy, one of the best I've ever read. When depression gets its claws into me, my tormentors are, indeed, the "ravens of unresting thought," who shake their ragged wings, alas. The key, the poet says, is to turn the eyes away from the bitter glass, with its false vision of the blasted tree, back to the holy tree within the heart. The first tree icon, highly stylized, I posted because I was considering it as a possible tattoo (it was on the cover of a devotional booklet distributed by my church). I still love the design, but I know it would have to be simplified and I am not sure I will ever do it (the idea of my getting a tattoo does horrify some members of my family). The second tree icon was taken from a watercolor done by Tolkien himself, picturing the Mallorn trees of the Golden Wood (from The Fellowship of the Ring).

Friendslist, I am going on this personal retreat for a number of reasons, one of which is that I need to get a clear image of the Holy Tree, and shake off the image of the blasted tree that has been haunting me.

I would be very grateful, friends list, if you would give me a tree.

Write a poem or a story for me about a tree.

Take a picture of a tree near your home that you know and love and send it to me.

Make me an animated icon of a tree flowering.

Plant a REAL tree (a very small one) in my honor and send me a picture.

Make a (very small) donation to Plant a Tree Today in my honor to help fight global warming. Or any other organization which plants trees. Your local arboretum.

Send me an .mp3 with a song about a tree (something like Claudia Schmidt and Sally Roger's "Tree of Life," which I love. And does anyone have an .mp3 of Michael Johnson singing "Bristlecone Pine"? I know it was on one of the Morning Show Keepers CDs, but we didn't get that one.) It would be even better if you write the song yourself.

Paint a picture of a tree. Do a watercolor or an oil, or just a sketch, or make a pair of tree-shaped earrings out of beads or a tree-shaped pin, and send them to me.

Make an origami tree and send me a picture.

Batik a scarf with a tree on it and send it to me, or just send me a picture.

If you have a sarong with a tree on it, send it to me, or just a picture.

Send me a URL link of a picture of your favorite tree on the internet.

I need thriving trees, blessed trees. Not necessarily beautiful trees, because some of the most wonderful ones in the world are twisty because they are stubborn trees. They can be humble trees. Don't pick the most beautiful trees, but instead the trees that remind you the most of me.

I'm not asking people to spend much money on this--as little as possible, really. You don't have to send an actual object to me. Just a picture will do, and you can simply e-mail that. In some ways, I like the idea of you keeping the tree (actual tree, art object, etc.) that you have made a picture of, because that creates a tie between you and me. So that whenever you see the tree that you have made for me, it will remind you of me. Let me know, if you do send something, whether it is okay with you for me to post a picture of it for others to see. It would be nice if you would let me know what you think is captured in the tree that reminds you of me, or that you hope for me.

I want to compile what I receive--objects or pictures--into some kind of book to look through when the darkest days come.

If you do send something tangible, my address is

Peg Kerr
P.O. Box 2128
Loop Station
Minneapolis, MN 55402

Send emails to pegkerr A T livejournal D O T com. Drop me a comment to let me know if you're sending via email so I can be sure it arrives; I can provide a different email address if there is any problem.

I feel a little diffident asking for this, but hopeful, too. My friends are creative people, and I hope that this request will spark your creativity, making it as fun for you as it would be healing for me.

I leave on my retreat on March 17. It would be lovely to have something before then (maybe I can compile a book of what I receive while on retreat) but if you send something later, that's cool, too. Thank you to those of you who are willing to do this for me.

Edited to add: Also: do you have suggestions for a trees-themed playlist? I imagine I have a number of songs already, and some of you have given me more. Other songs?

Edited to add: Oh, yeah, and not to be picky or anything, but there's one thing I'd definitely nix. If you've been reading this journal awhile, you probably already know this, but please don't send me a copy of Silverstein's The Giving Tree. (If you want to comment on this, please do it on the post linked in the previous sentence.)

Since the girls always complain that there are never any pictures of me

Peg March 2008

Nice new blouse, and here's a picture to celebrate. I feel like I look pretty nice in it.

Another Project to Try: SoulCollaging

anam_cara told me about Soulcollaging, and I got so interested I ordered the book. This is another thing which could be really rewarding to do on the retreat. I'll need to assemble some of the materials to take with me.

Anyone know a source of used art cards (to cut up for collaging)? And where should I get the mat cards for the base? It looks as though they suggest cards made of mat cardboard, 5" x 8".

Any of you tried doing this?