Aaron Martinez
Ms. Saywell
English 1A
19 February 2014
The Forest of Tranquility
“I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees. I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues” (Dr.Seuss).
I walk through this endless chaos—the world—filled with: envy, greed, belligerence, arrogance, secrets, aggression, and paranoia. It feels as if everywhere I look, Medusa is standing there waiting for me to glance at her. The world starts to become a burden on my shoulders; weighing me down so that I am unable to reach happiness. I look through the chaos for a scapegoat. Up in the air goes an overwhelming amount of anxiety, stress, anger, illness, carelessness, and distractions. All the worries of the world evaporate as I step inside the massive amounts of trees that are filled with species diversity. The leaf-carpeted paths crunch as I step on the multi-colored leaves. Every step gives me new life because of the different fragrances, plants, animals, pictures, and colors. My face becomes bright as I stare at the trees; which explode with a multitude of colors and the sunlight beams sporadically throughout the forest as it rest on my skin softly. The creek flows of water that speaks of tranquility. The squirrels’ chatter, birds chirp, insects chirr, and the beat of paws against a path harmonize a tune that soothes the soul. From an outsiders perspective, all the forest is, is trees and animals; however, these trees and animals provide much more than I had ever anticipated. The trees may not be able to physically speak to us, in spite of that; they assist humans in finding peace within themselves. The forest is vital to life because it allows people to get a deeper understanding of everything in the world, escape from the fast paced society, create an everlasting companion, and ultimately create an optimistic perspective on life as a whole. The forest is indifferent to our lives; nevertheless, it helps humans cope with the problems in their lives. Stressed people worry about what is going to happen next or what has already happened. Their anxiety rises at the thought of failure, but they do not seek help from things that help them. In fact, humans typically run away from this stress and anxiety with substance abuse instead of better—and safer—alternatives. An alternative like spending time with nature and finding oneself. Spending time with nature originates a very distinct feeling, a feeling where the rest of the world melts away. The luminous petals of scarlet red roses are a beauty to look at, they rest on top of the crisp innocent grass. The water plops, the frogs croak, birds whistle, and the wind swooshes as I let my eyes slip away from reality. I close them and I hear his voice, the voice of the Lorax—the one who in Dr.Seuss’ book served as a translator between the trees and mankind—I finally found my scapegoat. The Lorax tells me that many people walk past mindlessly without paying any attention to him. He states, “A lot of people may benefit from meditating at his palace”. As I sat there taking in the glorious fresh air and illuminating sun, my mind enters a new state of relaxation. I have a midterm tomorrow combines with the water vapors and dissipates into the atmosphere. All my thoughts were cleared; the outside world has been replaced with the rustling of leaves and the whistling of the wind. I finally realize that “I am one with nature”. All humans are one with nature, but they need to find a way out of the fast paced society, the society that prevents them from realizing that they are one with nature. Modern day society has deceives humans into believing that working and making money is the best way to obtain happiness; however, the Lorax has taught me otherwise. The forest holds all hardships that people have, and the Lorax assures me, “The forest can handle any hardship”. The natural sounds and colors establish tranquility within. Tranferring from newly built, three or four year old buildings, to a 400 year old