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Sign up todayBecoming Forest: A Story of Deep Belonging
This audiobook uses AI narration.
We’re taking steps to make sure AI narration is transparent.
Learn moreBecoming Forest opens
with Aishling—the young Irish woman at the heart of this story—as she visits
her grandmother in California following her grandfather’s death. Aishling finds
her grandfather’s journal and reads about a trip he made to India years ago to
visit the original Bodhi Tree, the place where the Buddha found enlightenment.
At the end of the journal, she finds a letter addressed to
her from her grandfather asking for her help passing along his message of “deep
security” to her generation as they deal with the climate crisis and the
uncertain future ahead. Aishling goes to India to follow in her grandfather’s
path to find a way of responding to his request. There she meets and falls in
love with a young Buddhist monk, who is also on a quest. As they walk together along
the roads of India, they gather unexpected and invaluable insights from each
other and come closer to the answers they both seek.
Thirty years later, Aishling’s daughter Tara is
visiting her in Ireland. Tara is grieving the death of her father and also the
destruction of the forests from drought and fire. She is also searching for a way
to heal the burnout she and her friends are experiencing while working to
combat climate change. Becoming Forest
weaves together threads of Native American and Celtic spirituality with
Buddhist understanding and connection to the natural world, creating a tapestry
which holds both the despair and awakening of Aishling
Michael Kearney has worked as a palliative care and hospice physician for forty years, sitting at the bedsides of people who are seriously ill and dying. He has published three books, Mortally Wounded: Stories of Soul Pain, Death, and Healing, which was a bestseller in Ireland; A Place of Healing: Working with Nature and Soul at the End of Life; and The Nest in the Stream, a nature-based spiritual memoir. Becoming Forest is his first novel.
Michael Kearney lives in Santa Barbara, California, with his wife, Radhule, and their four-legged friends Lucy and Kitty.
Michael Kearney has worked as a palliative care and hospice physician for forty years, sitting at the bedsides of people who are seriously ill and dying. He has published three books, Mortally Wounded: Stories of Soul Pain, Death, and Healing, which was a bestseller in Ireland; A Place of Healing: Working with Nature and Soul at the End of Life; and The Nest in the Stream, a nature-based spiritual memoir. Becoming Forest is his first novel.
Michael Kearney lives in Santa Barbara, California, with his wife, Radhule, and their four-legged friends Lucy and Kitty.
Reviews
“How do we hold hope and despair in one hand? How do we live honestly into the future of our planet—our home—all the while tending our mounting and accelerating losses? Well, it turns out, there is a way, and it could not be more urgent or accessible. In a book for the ages, for all ages, Michael Kearney’s latest, we learn how to look death in the eye and choose life, and all just in time.”
— BJ Miller, hospice and palliative medicine physician, author and speaker, best-known for his 2015 TED Talk, “What Really Matters at the End of Life” (15 million views)
“Becoming Forest is a bold, imaginative tale that serves as a handbook for psychological and spiritual resilience in the face of imminent climate collapse. It is a moving vision for new ways of dwelling on the earth. Combining Michael Kearney’s professional experience as a palliative care doctor and his Irish cultural background as a lover of nature and all living things, he invites us to embrace the wisdom of the forest. This engaging and timely work is a must for all readers committed to radical environmental change.”— Mary Robinson, 7th President of Ireland, former UN High Commissioner of Human Rights and former UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Climate Change, founder of the Mary Robinson Foundation-Climate Justice, and author of Climate Justice: Hope, Resilience, and the Fight for a Sustainable Future
“Becoming Forest is filled with awe, love, and appreciation for this phenomenon we call tree. I love how tree, in its own right, is appearing as this call to sanity for humanity in this moment. That we have tree - how this improves our chances!” — Joanna Macy, environmental activist; scholar of Buddhism, general systems theory, and deep ecology; and author of, World as Lover, World as Self
“When people don’t remember who they really are, they forget what is actually important. When people forget what’s important, they're not sure what to do. But when people remember who they are, they know what is important, and then they know what must be done. By pointing us towards reconnecting with Mother Earth, Becoming Forest helps us to remember who we really are.” — Wolf Wahpepah, second generation in his family to carry a traditional Native American inter-tribal fireplace that receives all people for the benefit of all life. With his wife, Lisa Wahpepah, he leads a community-based nonprofit, Descendants of the Earth, whose mission is to preserve the integrity of traditional Native American culture.
“This beautiful book is a powerful allegory for our time, and, as well, a remarkable story of a spiritual journey that is also timeless. Written by Dr. Michael Kearney, the renowned and beloved palliative care physician, the reader is taken into the heart and life of what it means to be wise, courageous, and resilient in the face of enormous adversity. This book will inspire hope and strength in any reader.”
— Roshi Joan Halifax, Buddhist teacher, anthropologist, author, pioneer in the field of end-of-life care, and author of Standing at the Edge: Finding Freedom Where Fear and Courage Meet
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