I am Lolo (Logan Soeder), I am a transgender non-binary artist residing in Kitchener-Waterloo. What draws me to forests is this visceral feeling of needing connection. The forest has helped me in many ways including working through a major phobia. I have lived for 27 years with debilitating “emetophobia” (fear of vomiting). Through my time healing from emetophobia I have learned what dissociation really feels like. Disconnected from my body, there was no way to connect with others and the community, I felt I was watching life go by like a movie. In 2019 I was relieved to finally come out of dissociation thanks to intuitively connecting with trees. In my healing process a thought had come to me: Some of us are aware the destruction of forests plays a monumental part in creating pandemics. I believe if we were truly connected to our planet we would not be harming it to the extent we are. I believe, like I was from my body, we are simply dissociated from our own planet! Just as you would dissociate and self harm in mental illness – I believe we are self harming on a greater scale due to disconnection. Think of a cedar tree as you would someone you love, appreciate what a maple gives you on a hot day, feel and smell their bark – talk to them! I invite you to connect to the forest around you in a way you would a “Who” not a “What.”