Navya Rao: Week 4: Talking Trees
Week 4: Talking Trees
Growing up as a Disney addicted child, I saw many repeating patterns in tropes and types of characters in every show. Popular girl, nerd, weird boy, weird girl, sassy girl, jock guy, emo girl, emo guy–the list goes on. Each type of character always had a far too similar situation going on. It makes sense why–these producers are trying to entertain kids.
Often, the weird and alienated characters always seemed to have unusual pets and talk to them. (I love you Ravi Ross). But this cannot be any further from the truth.
My backyard is the most social place for me. Let me illustrate.
The summer before third grade was pretty traumatizing. I’ll save you the story and instead summarize the highlights. One hot summery day, I was to go to the pool with my siblings and cousins, when a terrible thing had happened in my house before my eight year-old eyes–terrible enough to get men with badges involved.
Everyone dealt with their own rough emotions differently. Being the second youngest in the house, I had nearly been forgotten. Old enough to react better than my baby brother, but young enough to still have to ask my older sisters about what exactly happened.
After sticking my nose in the suffocating debates in my house, I grasped how terrifying the situation really was. No one ever taught me how to deal with so much anger, sadness, and fear.
So how did little me proceed?
I hid in my backyard the entire week, crying. I’d hide underneath lemons, apples, and plums the entire day.
I remember looking at the leaves and describing what I felt in my heavy little heart. The trees would sway one way, and then the other after I spoke. Eventually, I had created my own system to interpret the motions of my tall trees as agreements and disagreements.
From that week on, I talked to these trees every single day. They were my “bestest” friends ever, as I wrote in my Trolls themed journal.
There was something so soothing about talking to someone who listened and never judged. I felt seen and loved by my trees, the same way that people often confide in dogs (which I also do).
One day, I remember being locked out of the house after school, no one was home. It was hot and the only thing I could think of was a glass of water, ice-cold in a metal cup, as I sat down on my porch. Bummed out and bored, I talked to the trees about how thirsty I was. Suddenly, a strong wind knocked down a ripe and juicy plum from the branch of my plum tree.
It was at this moment the love between my trees and I was confirmed.
We talked about everything there ever was to talk about until freshman year, when I be
came far too caught up in the high school struggles of time management.
Yet, I never felt alienated from other people because I talked to trees. On the contrary, I believe that speaking to nature actually made me feel so much more love around me and as a result, more confident in myself!
This is such a beautiful story, Navya. Thank you for sharing. For some reason, this made me a bit emotional because I can completely understand where you are coming from. I am the youngest child in my household, and I can relate to having to deal with my emotions in eccentric ways. Often, my tears were not taken seriously and I was just seen as a “cry baby.” This was quite upsetting, so I had to find new ways to let out the anger I was feeling because displaying it to my family was not quite enough. Usually, I would either start singing or playing the piano. Some days, I would go sit in my den and play with my stuffed animals. Every time, it was something new to occupy my mind and distract myself.
ReplyDeleteAs I grew older, I became closer and closer with my sister, and she was finally able to understand my emotions. As I got more mature, we were able to form a deeper connection because we finally understood each other’s feelings. This made me feel less alienated within my own family and finally be able to call my sister my best friend.
Being sixteen now, I realize that sometimes siblings do not always start out as your built-in best friends, and sometimes you need to find ways to occupy yourself without having to rely on others. Your story about talking to the trees shows this exact same sentiment. I am grateful for the bond I have now with my sister, but I am also grateful for the time I spent with myself—playing the piano, singing, and playing with my stuffed animals—because it made me who I am today.
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ReplyDeleteHi Navya! I love how you structured your blog in the format of a counterargument, refuting the stereotypes often seen in the media. It offered a fresh perspective on Disney shows that I had never really thought about before. Talking to trees is such an interesting way to pass time and let out your emotions as well. As a kid, I would usually just bottle up my emotions and cry in secret in my room instead of actually saying it out loud, which probably would have made me feel better. The closest thing I did to that was typing out an angry note on my Kindle reader, which, thinking back, was actually pretty effective. While I didn’t talk to trees, I do remember talking to my stuffed animals, though I don’t remember if it was to let my emotions out or just to role play for fun. Anyways, talking to trees sounds like a great way to relieve stress because it helps you understand your emotions better and also lets you go outside as a break from reading (which I literally did all day when I was younger) and from the screen. Even though you don’t have time to talk to them now, it’s nice that they’re always there for you to go to if you need it. Also, I love that talking to trees actually improved your confidence and how you weren’t deterred by the fact that people might view you as weird for it. Thanks for sharing your insight!
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