DW's Blog

More Tree Wisdom: On Singularity and Presence

by DW Green — July 23, 2025

“Trees model that kind of authentic, singular presence we’re all seeking.”

Yesterday my nephew gave me a beautiful leather-bound journal with pages that have torn edges. The cover is forest green with an embossed tree image, complete with leather binding and a green leather strap to close it. Since my handwriting is atrocious, I plan to print out my writings and glue them to the journal pages. As I was thinking about the journal and trees, I found myself contemplating singularity as a fundamental tree quality.

Trees embody singularity in several beautiful ways:

Individual uniqueness – No two trees are exactly alike, even of the same species. Each one carries the story of its particular soil, weather, struggles, and growth patterns. My palm trees each have their own character, their own way of swaying, their own bark texture.

Wholeness – A tree is completely itself at every moment. It’s not trying to become something else or wishing it were different. There’s that quality of being singular, unified, complete as it stands.

Present-moment existence – Trees live in pure “now-ness.” They respond to this season, this day’s light, this moment’s wind. They don’t worry about next year’s drought or reminisce about last spring’s blooms.

Interconnected singularity – Here’s where it gets really interesting. Each tree is absolutely singular, yet completely connected through that underground network. They’re both individual and part of something larger – like how a single note can be distinct yet part of a symphony.

In my philosophy of accepting “what it is” as meaning, trees are perfect examples. They don’t question their treeness or try to be anything other than exactly what they are in this moment.

Maybe that’s part of what draws me to them – they model that kind of authentic, singular presence we’re all seeking. They’re teaching us how to be both completely ourselves and completely connected.