Arroe Collins Forest Stories

I write in a forest. I go to listen. What started at the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte has evolved into a lifelong journey. Something was moving through me. I’ve heard a calling. These aren’t my words. These are the lyrics from Billy’s forest.

A chilly 56 degrees. A new day in the forest. The dry yellow, orange, red and somewhat green leaves have been thrown across the forest floor. The most interesting part is the sunlight. Because of the umbrella of leaves above so much shade is in place. The clearing of the leaves is creating shadows as I write. The creative mind dances with the idea of the shadow being a different spirit. This is wh...

It's not why did we stop. The question we should answer should be when should you have stopped?

The forest is cool this new sun. A chill I know and love all too well. The shifting of a season. God's about to grab his paint brushes and ignite the Carolina sky. With so much change in the atmosphere so shall the people but without the bright beautiful colorful leaves once green. No Fall can be predicted nor is it perfectly laid out for fans to purchase a front row seat. Since March of 2020 the...

A nibble of fall is in the air. A tingle of shivers race through the forest. I watch as the squirrels scamper with large particles in their mouths. It could be food or lumber for their tree houses. Native American spiritual studies teach us that squirrels represent change. I also take note of the bright red cardinals. So many of them on the ground, as if to see invisible seeds. The cardinal repres...

As much proof as we have of there being an out of control climate the affects still put too much distance between the human ego and the acceptance of being tiny on this planet. Human loss doesn't seem to be an important factor. From out of nowhere communities are rebuilt. 'm not the only one asking this question "Where does all the money come from?" What if one day it dries up? The only thing we'l...

Sitting in a forest hoping it's energy will become words on a page. Then I realize, this is no different than walking up to a comedian telling them to say something funny. Hey Michael Bolton sing a real love song! Or the one that gets me, "We knew you were in radio. Listen to that voice." Which is why I gently glide them into a great conversation about this isn't my voice. It's the growing result...

I've always been fascinated with the messages people pass forward. We grow up thinking our parents are harsh by creating rules that were put out there to help protect us. As we evolved into adult clothing those sharp words were actually very valuable. How often do you turn around and thank the child you once were? I wouldn't be celebrating 42 years of broadcasting if it wasn't for that five year o...

I've never seen the forest stress out over change. The trees and tall grass treat it like a dance. As humans, why are we challenged by our roots. We consistently want to grow on the other side of the fence. Challenged are the inner creations that influence the mental behaviors of a mild ride on a railroad of process and purpose. When we are to be silent we find reason to locate an argument. With c...

Sitting within the unprotected environment of this forest. Unprotected yet it has bendability. How can the human learn from this? The roots beneath my feet are tied together in the way a net catches what has fallen. A tree could not stand without it's roots. What if we began to find strength in what's rooted inside our mind body's and souls? Learning to recognize where strength comes from gives us...

Locating your personal forest doesn't mean a collection of trees. When I speak of the forest it's that place of mindfulness and solitude. Walking beside a very busy street with a distant train on the horizon is very calming to me. So is checking in with a huge flock of very noisy black crow. With so much muck and crud in our lives since the lockdown, the idea of locating your personal forest is a...

Sitting across from the very places where you learned of a very close person's passing. Not everyone can do that. Facing the departure. Walking without the weight of what you used to have. Learning how to live beyond. It requires a relationship with their spiritual energy. I find it to be very present while writing. It's your choice if you want others to see it. But keeping them present in your cr...

Hey it’s Arroe. I’m a Poet. One that just happens to write in a forest. In 2015 I stepped into a very special collection of trees at the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, NC While there. I did nothing but write. But they weren’t my words. They were The Lyrics From Billy’s Forest. Nearly two years later God spoke to my heart. It was time to grow beyond the library, to write within other collection...

Looking at your emptiness through different points of sunlight. What if what you feel is emptiness in reality was openness?

November 2, 2021 I start this with a total set up. The commitment to make your way back to the very place you once shared your wedding vows. Even if you’ve been whittled back to being one. Being in that place isn’t living in the past but rather tapping into a source of energy. July 11, 2021 and every day before it for 28 years I’ve been in the very place where our vows were brought to the openness...

What day will I return to this page? It's an interesting thought because it has the power to predict as well as pull you back into a past you can't change. Being present always wins because your inner censors can be kept under control. I asked on that day how much the forest will change when I return on a different day. The answer is everyday there is change.

October 12, 2021 A cool early summer breeze sweeps across my writing. The atmosphere of being present gives sight to my senses. Taking note of last night’s super moon. It was dubbed a strawberry moon. I stood watching as it slowly moved across the sky. It was so incredibly bright. I could see everything the forest was providing. Within our personal walk and way, are there moments of such clarity?...

October 5, 2021 Four months ago I sat in the forest writing about the first tropical storm of the season. Miss Claudette was pouring sips of water into the several layers of what makes this collection of trees possible. I caught a solo doe in between some of those layers. She was gnawing on leaves from a fallen branch. Nature doesn’t seem to be bothered by the atmosphere. Maybe because all the oth...

September 28, 2021 Waking up with the forest. The hawks. Two are in vision. A calling inside these trees to wake up in peace. I’m amazed by the sounds the hawks are making. They want to be heard far ahead of all others things. In Native American Spirituality, when the hawk makes itself known to your presence the message is clear. You’re caught up in too much. Stay alert and become more focused. Pa...

September 21, 2021 A newborn fawn greeted me in the forest this morning. Its eyes blessed with the most astounding emotion. Filled with the beauty of all things that shall become. I quickly looked around the forest for the mother. To my right maybe twenty five feet. She stood there waving her tall white tail as if to be asking, “Do you love my baby?” This forest. Wow. We met for the first time in...

September 14, 2021 The doe are preparing for their early summer birth. Their tummies well rounded and they’re packing together like true family. It’s as if the yearlings and two year old’s are still learning. This week it’s about becoming a mother. The goal is to teach the newborns how to survive as well as hide. It’s as if they’re whispering, “We shall help keep this forest growing forward.” Whic...

September 7, 2021 I’m not a visionary. I’m visualist. I hold onto the vision of what’s in my present and turn its aura into energy. There’s endless vibrations in the atmosphere. As a writer, a spiritualist and an animal speak believer, I am present to make a choice as to which direction the path shall grow. We spend a lot of time inside negative energy because too many incredible things have come...

August 24, 2021 The glory of what this forest offers is such an incredible struggle to put into words. The umbrella above is that of very long tree limbs blessed with a colorful array of springtime green. The sunlight is a huge role player upon this canvas so bright. The rays of light that add to what looks to be a glow on the forest floor. And is that the message? Too often we want all the light....

August 18, 2021 The forest here in South Charlotte, NC is quiet this new sun. Lit up in springtime green. It acts as if I’m supposed to be reaching within its peace. What’s here waiting for me? I can’t rely on memories. I’m dedicated to being present in the now. To think of the 29 year old relationship with this forest removes the ray of new light from the avenues of personal growth. As a reader,...

August 10, 2021 Allowing the spirit of the forest inside your pattern of thought. The sunlight shines through the spring green leaves creating shadows in places building peace. It’s that energy that loosens the cluster of mental weight bogging down your natural process to think. The falcon soars high in this Carolina lit sky. It glides with the upper level winding. Diving in the air like a wild ro...