Tree love

A recipe for tree love, in memory of Dr. Darshan Elena Campos (1975-2024). Remembering Darshan one month after her passing by revisiting her eco-therapeutic writings honors her decolonial legacy.

Photo of Darshan visiting the Ceiba located at Maria's Cave in Loiza, PR by Yolanda Arroyo Pizarro.

The meditation prompt I reproduce below with some minor edits was written by my late friend, Dr. Darshan Elena Campos for her appearance on episode 6 of the podcast Food Love, by Rufina C. Garay in 2021.

After Darshan's death on or about the 1st of March 2024, I found solace in this "recipe for tree love" that showcases so much of Darshan's playful but serious style, the richness of her writing, and the bold creativity of her political activism. Of her courageous writing, Darshan herself said, "My writing is openly agitprop as in agitation propaganda. It is as old as the hills, as sacred as #StandingRock,"

Inspired by Darshan's genius and to mark one month since her death, I share this gently edited version of her meditation so that more people will see it and benefit from its wisdom. Share it with loved ones, assign it to your students, practice it yourself and may the force of our collective tree love live forever.

You can read more of my writing about Dr. Campos here: histcon.ucsc.edu/people/grad-memoriam.html

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My thanks to Yolanda Arroyo Pizarro for allowing me to use these photos she took of Darshan.

Tree Love

Yield: Abundant and Boundless

Author: Dr. Darshan Elena Campos


A recipe for healing through Tree Love.


INGREDIENTS
-You
-Trees in the place where you are.

Rather than share a recipe using Indigenous flora of the Caribbean where trees such as guanábano (soursop) and guayabo (guava) grow, Dr. Darshan Elena Campos shares a recipe for healing through trees wherever you are located.




INSTRUCTIONS
Tree Love

1. Let's step into nature and fall in love with local tree!
2. If one tree calls your attention, hear its call. If it isn't a tree but a small grove of trees or an entire forest, look at each tree as its own being and one among family. What about this tree, grove or forest is calling to you? Leaves, flowers, scents? The texture of the trunks? The seeds scattered across the sidewalk or bare dirt? The crunch of leaves or their sounds on the wind? 
3. If you have the physical ability for touch, place your hands on its trunk. Alternatively, imagine the feeling of its bark on your flesh. Connect!
4. If you sense a warm, living connection, pursue it across the seasons! Nourish the tree and your closest neighbors by gathering tree knowledge. What is the tree called by your area's first people? If the tree isn't Indigenous, how did it come to grow in your local area? Does the tree have medicinal uses or provide edible fruit or roots? How can you make a living, loving connection to this tree across the seasons of your life and your local ecosystem?
5. As you move about your life, listen to the trees and all the life they nourish. Now ask yourself, how can you promote community reforestation? 

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(This recipe was published here: https://www.recipeswithrufina.com/foodlove-podcast/foodlove-6-darshan-campos)

Did you complete this meditation? Take a minute to share your experience in the comments below!

Darshan was proud of this plant in her garden in Cabo Rojo. Photo taken July 2021 by Adriana Garriga-Lopez.

"You cannot make love to concrete
if you care about being
non-essential wrong or worn thin
if you fear ever becoming
diamonds or lard
you cannot make love to concrete
if you cannot pretend
concrete needs your loving"

-Audre Lorde, "Making Love to Concrete" (1987)




Ashe, Darshan. GRACIAS. Hasta siempre.
-Adriana.

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