A great tree has fallen – time to chart our own path forward

Forest bathing is now a regular practice I incorporate into my routine, especially in times of stress and uncertainty. The idea is simple: find a nearby park and walk until I feel like going home. Completely unstructured time for me to be in awe of nature. Every time I do this, I have profound realizations about life and the world around me, and I felt inspired to share the most recent one from this week.

On Monday, I went for a forest bathing walk in Bryan Park, in Richmond, Virginia, a beautiful, massive park in the city. As I walked my usual loop, I came across this enormous tree that had fallen over and was blocking the entire path.

I marveled at Mother Nature's power in growing this tree to its magnitude, and also nature's forces that felled it. Pretty quickly, my thoughts shifted from marvel to fear - how would I keep going? Could I climb over it? Could I go around it? I was very focused on continuing on the path I already knew. I could see it beyond the tree! I took a moment to observe the surroundings and saw quite clearly there was a newly formed path to the left. Of all the times I had walked this way before, I had never seen that before. The path to the left went into the woods, away from the paved, gravel road I was on. It was both a relief to see this and a mystery to go down it.

I began walking this new path and when there was an opportunity to go back to the road, I didn't. I wanted to see where this one led me. I continued down it and ended up on a separate but beautiful hiking trail that led me through the trees to a river sparkling with sunshine. I stopped, said a prayer with my hands facing the sun, and then kept walking until I felt like going home.

My big takeaway from this forest bathing experience was that this whole experience was a metaphor for life, and the current job experiences of many. The layoffs, the stop-work orders, the funding freezes, the disruption of so many careers are the many trees that have fallen, blocking so many paths forward. We're all asking the same questions: What should I do now? What is my path forward? What am I supposed to do? The harsh but simultaneously empowering reality of this is that there are multiple paths forward. We can try to stay on the same path and climb over this big tree that has fallen. We can try to take an axe to it and chop our way through. And we can also take step back, look around the tree, and find another path forward. Maybe that other path will take us back to familiarity and ease; the same type of role we had before, working in the same industry as before, or moving to a similar but adjacent role. But maybe, just maybe, that path will take us on another journey we haven’t been down before; something joyous, adventurous, and new. Maybe this means starting a business, taking on consulting gigs, or taking an intentional career break to find the right place for yourself. The beautiful part about this is that you have the power to chart that path, choose open-mindedness, and design your life moving forward. The opportunities are limitless.

During this difficult time, I encourage you to remember that our future is still uncertain, it has not been decided. Right now, any future is possible. Any path can be created. If you're not sure how, take a step back, widen your viewpoint, and a new path might be revealed to you. Most importantly, you don’t have to do it alone.

My name is Radhika Bhatt, and I help people alchemize opportunities through meaningful work. I've helped 400+ people find work and transition their careers into climate, social impact, and careers that make the world a better place.

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