Bonsai is the art of miniaturizing and reshaping trees. For some reason this has bothered me and I see it as a metaphor for what we do to ourselves. Do we minimize and try to reshape what we naturally are?

Is the art of Bonsai playing God?

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On the Niagara Escarpment -- which some may not know, but is a 200 foot limestone and shale rise that runs from upstate New York, across Southern Ontario, through Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron, around the northern peninsula of Michigan -- there are small cedars that grow straight from the cliff faces in some secluded spots.

They look like 3 or 4 year old saplings to the untrained eye, about 12 - 18 inches tall, somewhat twisted and sparse from growing in an inhospitable spot. but are in fact, 5,000 - 8,000 year old trees

I am thinking here, in part, about the thread on trees having souls. I have seen and touched these trees and yes, they do have souls that can be sensed, can be felt. Those tress have souls that are not less for their small size.

We all grow to the size we can; the soul expresses itself regardless of the phsycial vessel.

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Grassaf, Eolas

Bonsai means, literally, tree in a pot. It is an art. Masters of this art have specimens several hundred years old that are passed down from one generation to the next in a family. Basically, at it's core, it is an attempt to emulate Nature, in all it's beauty, in a form that may be appreciated without actually traveling to exotic locations.

Any metaphores or treatments other than the above are subjective, speculative and/or topics to discuss with your therapist. lol

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Only Love Prevails,
Don

In this case wouldn't it be a "shrink" one would need to see?

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Wish I'd thought of that! Very good

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Only Love Prevails,
Don

I wonder about stuff like that too............. Just cutting back some plants in the garden this week made me feel a little bad, but then I thought that we're all interconnected, and maybe the plants themselve enjoy participating in the quest for beauty.....