1/17/2010 – The Cloud Forest of Kailua-Kona

At the time I went into the Cloud Forest, the clouds had not yet arrived and the forest basked in the brilliant and hot sun. As I climbed up the slopes of Hualalai I become aware to the ways of the trees, vines, grasses and mosses – the children of the Wood element.

Wood seems to be a healthy balance between realism and optimism. The roots each plant creates go as deep as they can to find groundedness in the reality of what the truth of available resources is. Each plant, bush, grass, and moss expresses its creativity to the extent of water’s availability. Their downward growth towards resources is proportional to upwards growth. They generally do not attempt to extend past reality, but are still hopeful for their future.

Wood is the intermediary between the depths of Water and the heights of Fire – between potential, and manifestation. The unification of Heaven and Earth is in the plan of the tree.



Wood in all of its multitude of expressions is the embodiment of trying out different ideas in life. For what purpose, I don’t know, but to manifest potential. In the cycle of creation the trees celebrate each cycle of growth by flowering, and saying “Yes, we did it!”. As the season continues they let go of the structures they used to get there (old branches and leaves) and they rest before taking their next spurt of growth. Why do trees do that? Perhaps it’s just to see if they can.



This “Can it be done”, “Yes, it can”, “No it can’t” is the difference between hope and despair. So, what is the purpose of hope? Fundamentally it is the belief that “It’s better over there than it is over here”. Its that same game of sights directed towards the future. So, what is the purpose of this game? Perhaps it is to escape the sea of potential, and actually pull the potential out of slumber and manifest it in reality, for its own sake. Wood’s ‘in order to’ is to manifest full potential. That is the only ‘in order to’. So this is why wood constitutional types strive for their own goals, towards their own ideas, and then call others, giving them that inspiration through the dedication to their aspiration – to show that it can be done. Wood is the exclamation to the exclamation point! “Look what I can do! Look what can be done!”

Unlike the excitement of the fire element, Wood’s excitement is exuberance in stretching out in all directions, into the new and the unknown – but with a plan!

Plants don’t compare themselves to another because they know that their plans are valid expressions of their inner contribution to the world. They don’t compare who’s got the most colorful bloom, or glossy leaves, or tallest branches. Issues of self-esteem arise out of comparison of oneself to another and “Look what they have done with their resources, and I don’t have those resources, I’m not good enough, I don’t have enough to manifest my plan. I am weak. They are strong.” Just like each type of fern, each tree, each vine, and each sapling has a right to shout “I live. I’m here. I have a plan” - Self-esteem is therefore finding your place in the world as a unique contribution, as the fulfillment of what you have to offer, as a fulfillment of your particular form of self-expression and the claiming of your own self-expression as valid, necessary and needed in this world.



This is distinct from self-worth, and valuing what you find when you examine yourself – which is a Metal quality. The way that Metal controls wood is by saying what is or is not valuable in terms of growth. Which branches are necessary, and which will lead you to spread your resources too thin. Where its appropriate to diversify, and where its appropriate to specialize. What steps in growth are essential, and what are inessential. What is the best, what is not the best. It’s the ability to then sort through all those decisions and all those plans and say “This is a worthy pursuit. This is a good path to take along my journey. This is a good expression of my planning, my decision making and my potential and this is not”. The dictionary defines self-esteem as the valuation and appraisal of your own self-worth. In this instance it is the distinction between having the vision to see that you have a unique self-expression that should be manifested, what is your unique contribution is versus putting value in that. One has to first see what one’s potential is before one can ‘evaluate’ and declare self-worth.

As the sprout breaks through the ground and the vines push through and up against obstacles so does wood break through what it needs to in order to manifest its potential. No wonder then that anger is the primary emotion associated with the wood element. Anger is nothing more than frustrated growth and the energy of upward pushing towards a destination. When something stands in your way that energy of frustration is what shows up. The lesson from the tree in how to deal with anger is to be flexible and move with ease around the obstacle, bending where appropriate and not taking these frustrations personally.

Wood can only accomplish what it desires to by facing everything and avoiding nothing – by not hiding, by not cowering from its potential, by not hiding from difficult conversations, by hiding from tough decisions, by not resigning itself to its circumstances – but facing what it needs to face to break through whatever obstacles it needs to break through in order to manifest its plan. Woods must do this either in reaching down for resources, money, people, skills – or reaching up to manifest its vision regardless of what stands in its way.

Like plants living above the cloud line where they rarely get enough rain, their root systems shallow, barely able to scrounge water – Wood must make its plans in accordance with available resources. Wood will grow full and lush, or it will grow short and stubby. This growth is proportional to its resources and wise decision making. Its plans must be appropriate to the environment. If you are to be scorched by the sun, your leaves should be thicker, darker and more concerned with conservation of water, your branches and leaves fewer.



Above the cloud line, the wood here is dry, inflexible, brittle, undernourished, hard, gray, lifeless, depressed, skeleton-like. The trees and shrubs here are dried up, burned by the sun and have chosen to grow in areas where resources are scarce. When wood extends beyond its means, it dries up and it gets burnt. Poor planning, circumstances, and bad decisions can put it out of reach of these resources. Instead of being supple and flexible, the trees become hard and brittle and that much more frustrated by their lot. Just as the forest thins and growth becomes sparse, Wood’s single-minded pursuit of growth regardless of whether there are enough resources can leave then alone, without friends, and without resources. When all its plans are for naught, all the carcasses of wood’s former plans lay bleaching in the hot sun.


When wood as a parasite overtakes another tree, it uses the growth of others to piggy back its own growth. Wood is so forceful and self-directing, that it must manifest at all costs. And because of this need to manifest it has all these strategies in order to conquer, subdue, break through, beat through, shout over the top of, talk at and overcome another’s point of view. Convinced its path is the only righteous path, it ruthlessly conquers all, in single-minded tunnel vision.

When looking at the majestic and tall tree as compared with a vine, it seems that the majestic tree has stability and self-confidence. The mighty tree doesn’t need anybody’s help. They’re good enough on their own, they have strong trunks, strong bark, and thick stable roots. These trees aren’t as rushed to manifest their plans, because for them stability and planning for the future is more important than fast growth. The vines, however are weaker. They want to grow fast, they need support, they need to manifest quicker – so they climb on the backs of others. Flexible, quick, ravenous in their growth, they accomplish their plans and grow overnight.

When wood wishes to accomplish something is has available to it the ferocity of overnight growth. It can grow out of control and choke others. Alternatively, it may be wise in its utilization of resources and plan wisely for the future so as to survive many many years, and not just into the next season.

When wood charges ahead in a state of blind self-righteousness it overtakes and grows on top of the right to be and plans of others. Because it must manifest its vision at all costs, regardless of what life another plant may have planned, they’re shouting “Me first” and are unable to offer any benevolence for others. Lacking perspective of how their plans damage their relationships with their friends, family, and neighbors they force their way past other people’s ideas to manifest their plan. Other people have their own plans and wish to grow unencumbered. Benevolence is therefore the virtue for wood to cultivate – to have perspective that other people’s plans are valid expressions of their own ideas, and no better or worse than one’s own. Each plant must reach for the sun in its own way. Benevolence encourages all to manifest their own potential without choking the plans of others because of one’s own will, purpose and way of doing things. Perspective is therefore the virtue of seeing how your plans impact the lives of others, as well as the notion that your idea may not necessarily be the only valid idea but that others’ ideas are just as valid. Perspective allows us to plan properly and in full light of circumstances so that we can make wise course corrections in our plans rather than single-mindedly pursue our ideas with blind impunity.

I picked wild lilikoi (passion fruit) from the vines that covered the many trees of the Cloud Forest. Delicious, juicy, and fragrant, the barren forest was still abundant in the results of the vine’s plans. When a plant gives birth to fruit and seeds, it seems to speak “I liked that plan. I liked that idea. I want future generations to follow that same plan and idea and maybe make it better.” Its because of this that it puts so much effort into creating fruit, ensuring that its plan passes on.


Grass is still green in the cloud line but above the cloud line everything is scorched from the sun and what little water is there makes the vegetation dry and hard and burnt. Here its more lush and the clouds move quickly, depositing their moisture, running from place to place infusing the place with just enough resources to continue. I do not know if this is metal condensing water or whether it’s the earth creating a humid, languid, moist, enveloping, opulent, nourishing, mothering cloud. A future trip here may reveal to me the secrets of the Earth and Metal elements.