Hey friends,

I’m loving writing these philosophical treemails, and I hope you’re enjoying reading them. This is the second-last one. Thanks for sticking with me on this journey through the woods.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve always found this saying a bit weird: “You’re not a tree. If you don’t like where you are, move.” But then I thought about it and realized that I was once a tree feeling like I was growing in the wrong forest (the ministry). I thought I was too deeply rooted in it to ever leave and survive. I was wrong.

For most of us, community means being part of a forest. Part of something bigger where we play a role but we also have the comfort and safety of those around us.

But what happens when the forest no longer feels safe to you? Leaving feels terrifying when a particular community is all you’ve known. I have been there.

One of the hardest things about becoming your true self is the lingering fear that you may lose your community. When I left the ministry, I was scared of living apart from the only forest I knew. I was scared of being alone yet I felt so lonely where I was.

When I finally found the strength to leave, I realized community can be found in unexpected places.

If you don’t like the community you are in, if they hold you back, don’t accept you as you are, control you, or make you feel unsafe, go spread your roots and branches somewhere new.

Keep growing my friend,

David

P.S. If you’re interested, here’s my collection of tree art.