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A tree in the forest has no option for moving on to greener pastures when the going gets tough. It must grow where it is planted. There are many things we can learn from this growing while standing still.

I often seek the solace of nature when I am experiencing emotional turmoil. It can feel overwhelming to experience the many things I cannot control about my life and my relationships. In sitting still and allowing the peaceful perfection of the natural world to act as my safety net I find that I am able to ground myself and allow that peace to resonate within me. Sitting quietly under the shade of an old tree assists me to let go of the extraneous things that distract me, to go deeper into my own truth and to get to the core of whatever is currently bothering me … to get to the Heart of the Matter.

It is from this still, quiet space of standing still that I experience the most inner growth and I learn once again what it means to grow where you are planted. Lisa's Botanicals - The Heart of the Matter is an invitation to sit still for a while, connect with your own truth and allow the peaceful perfection of nature to be reflected as peace within you.

• You can find new icons for loading this product in the following Poser Libraries:
  • Character: “Lisa'sBotanicals:HeartOfTheMatter”
  • Pose: “Lisa'sBotanicals:HeartOfTheMatter”
  • Materials: “Lisa'sBotanicals:HeartOfTheMatter”

• You can find new icons for loading this product in the following DAZ Studio Folders:
  • “Props:Plants:Lisa'sBotanicals:HeartOfTheMatter”
  • “Props:Plants:Lisa'sBotanicals:HeartOfTheMatter:Materials”

• You can find new icons for this product in the following DAZ Studio Categories:
  • “Materials:Landscapes”
  • “Props:Landscape”

• This product includes:
  • 1 Legacy DAZ Studio installer
  • 1 DSON installer
  • 1 Poser Core installer

Thank you for your purchase of Lisa's Botanicals - Heart of the Matter.

The Heart of the Matter is a 3D forest tree environment that is intended as a base to build on. This project was inspired by some of the gifts I have received on my personal journey of growing and evolving. I find that the most effective medicine for the times when I am feeling an 'inner unrest' that requires time for reflection to 'sort it all out' is to take that time out in nature. Being in nature takes many forms such as tending the garden or walking on the beach however, one of my favorite places to sit and be quiet with me is under a large, old maple tree in the woods near my home.

I often seek the solace of nature when I am experiencing emotional turmoil. It can feel overwhelming to experience the many things I cannot control about my life and my relationships. Sitting still and allowing the peaceful perfection of the natural world to act as my safety net I find that I am able to ground myself and allow that peace to resonate within me. Sitting quietly under the maple tree assists me to let go of the extraneous things that distract me and to go deeper into truth to get to the heart of whatever is currently bothering me … to get to the Heart of the Matter.

Here there are no ringing phones, no knocks on the door, no emails to read or write … no external chatter. My inner 'to-do' list is put away for a while. Here I am able to let go of the world and its demands and I create the space to allow my sometimes seemingly incessant inner chatter to be quiet.

A tree in the forest has no option for moving on to greener pastures when the going gets tough. It must grow where it is planted. There are many things we can learn from this growing while standing still. The development of this project revealed several insights which led to the evolution from “March 2011 Tree” into “The Heart of the Matter”. One set of insights came in listening to Don Henley sing

“…been trying to get down to the heart of the matter, everything changes and my thoughts they get scattered but I think it's about … forgiveness … forgiveness … even if you don't love me any more …”

I reflected on forgiveness for a while asking to know what it really means to forgive. Forgiveness on the deepest level would mean that my emotional response when thinking about something that brings me a sense of pain would instead bring a sense of peace. Forgiveness would mean that I would truly understand … to know like I know like I know … no matter how painful something may have felt in the past, the pain can be healed and the wound can disappear. This has already happened with some of my formerly painful emotional responses. My body no longer acts in fear. I am at peace. I am now simply required to expand that feeling into other painful situations.

There are still some ways in which I have not truly forgiven. Here in this place of resisting forgiveness there is a connectedness to being right. Does forgiveness mean that I was wrong? Does forgiveness mean that my pain was not real? Does forgiveness mean that the other was right in what they did or said? Does forgiveness require letting go of justice?

Early one morning as I sat processing and reflecting on some of these questions around forgiveness my son Josh played a song from his phone that he said I just had to hear. The song asked … well, I will quote the lyrics here…

—-
What Would You Say by Trailer Choir
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0Qhgvn1gak&feature=share

what if the moment came and
you knew your life was down to minutes
lighter's flame was all you had to see
and you found a pen and torn up piece of paper
and a note was all you could leave

13 men felt trapped in a mine in West Virginia,
only one made it out alive
but their love lives on in the words
I can not wait to see you on the other side

what would you say(x2)
(CHORUS)
in the lines on a page from the life that you made
could you write it with no regrets
would you know in yourself you gave somebody else
all the love that you had inside
right down to your last breath

would you tell your momma thank you for the way you love me
daddy don't cry everything's gonna be ok
would you tell your little boy that
you'll be watching him from up in heaven,
you'll never miss one game

what would you say(x2)
(CHORUS)
in the lines on a page from the life that you made
could you write it with no regrets
would you know in yourself you gave somebody else
all the love that you had inside
right down to your last breath

what would you say

(CHORUS)
in the lines on a page from the life that you made
could you write it with no regrets
would you know in yourself you gave somebody else
all the love that you had inside
right down to your last breath

what if the moment came and
you knew your life was down to minutes

—-

The first few lines of the song brought tears to my eyes and before long I was sobbing as wave after wave of emotion swept over me. I felt the purest of truths hit me deep in my chest and spread with a peaceful warmth throughout my body. Here in this unexpected emotional journey I touched the Heart of the Matter.

What if the moment came and I knew my life was down to minutes?

What would I say?

Love
Accept
Forgive
Start Now
Begin with You

What would you say?

Enjoy a creative day!
Lisa Buckalew
lisa.buckalew@gmail.com

File List

• 2011 - 1.1 - Tree trunk and branches have been welded for a more seamless look. Ground, Tree and Leaves are all separate objects allowing the user to load single parts as needed. Leaves have been remapped and the leaf texture updated.Grass Objects remapped and given their own texture map so they no longer share the tree leaf texture map.
• 2012-10-22 - 1.2 - Added DUF Files and updated installer to prevent uninstall error.
• 2012-10-22 - 1.3 - Added DUF Material Presets, Seperated installers into Legacy, Poser Core, and DAZ Studio Core, fixed issue with metadata for the HOTMPreload.duf.

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