Special Reading: Practicing Intersectionality And The Abundance Mindset In The Redwoods.

In summer 2025, after years of aspiring, I finally had the opportunity to pay the Coast Redwoods a proper visit, in the form of roadtrip and camping with my partner, which allowed me to have in-depth and expansive interactions and exchanges with the teachers and wizards that the redwoods are. Before going into the learnings, I want to offer some historical context about the redwoods to set the stage.

The coast redwoods forests had lived mostly uninterruptedly on over a million acres for millennia. Indigenous nations like the Yurok, Tolowa, and Chemehuevi lived in harmony with the trees. They used fallen wood for canoes and lodges, and they managed the land with cultural burns that benefited the ecosystem. As the California Gold Rush in 1849 hit, everything changed. Suddenly, the forests were treated as an inexhaustible resource and were cut down for lumber. No one heard the trees’ silent scream and weep. By the early 20th century, or in a blink of an eye compared to the ages of these gentle giants, 95% of the original old-growth redwoods had been logged. The scale of the destruction was nearly unfathomable. Finally, in 1918, the Save the Redwoods League was founded. The organization aggressively purchased land from logging companies and created parks to protect the woods. These parks are today known as Redwood National and State Parks, where visitors like me go, experience, appreciate, and learn from the coast redwoods.

Learning 1: The Redwoods Live and Breathe Interconnectedness and Intersectionality.

During our visit, I learned that coast redwoods don’t have deep roots. Rather, their shallow roots spread wide and intertwine with the roots of their neighbors. At first, this fact seemed unbelievable to me. “But they are the tallest trees on earth! How can they survive with shallow roots?” (Hyperion, the tallest known living tree, is a coast redwood stretching 380.1 feet (115.92 meters) As we walked in the woods, seeing the trees with my own eyes, I understood: you can see how the roots are connected with each other on the forest floor, where they sometimes are exposed. It is as if they are holding hands. These connections are further strengthened by an underground network of mycorrhizal fungi. Through this network, redwoods share resources and warnings, as if they are talking in silence. Under the vast canopy, an ecosystem of mature trees, young trees, ferns, mosses, lichens, and other trees, as well as insects, salamanders, and mammals, live interdependently and interconnectedly, in sync.

Redwoods don’t live in solitude. They can’t. The forests form a safe ecosystem for the giants, plants, and animals to live, thrive, die, reproduce, and regenerate. Even the fallen woods play a critical role in keeping the forests alive. They provide a moist and nutrient rich bed for the seedlings to grow on. The interconnectedness and intersectionality of the coast redwoods not only exist in space, but also, in time.

Imagine if our society can function as a collective and a collaboration? Imagine how much headache and heartbreak can be averted?

Learning 2: The Redwoods are Living Examples of the Abundance Mindset.

First, let’s understand “abundance”. In the capitalistic world, for many, “abundance” means “more”, and then, “even more”. It promotes insatiable greed, desire, and hedonism. Here, and throughout our work, “abundance” means “enough” and "adequate”. The Abundance Mindset, in our practice, means “there is enough for everyone”, “one’s gain is not another’s loss”, and, as someone who enjoys pies, I say, “there is more than one pie, in fact, there are pies for everyone”.

The redwoods provide enough for everyone in the ecosystem. No more, no less, just enough, just adequate. The forests don’t hoard resources either. A young tree needs support? The network sends signals and the young tree receives nutrients from the “nurses and aunties”. The ferns and animals need water? The redwoods drip water from the fog they capture throughout the day to keep every living thing watered and moisturized. The seedlings need nutrients? The fallen woods generously provide everything they need to nurse the “next generation”.

The forests don’t ask for more, and they never will. The ecosystem produces, shares, recycles, returns, and nurtures. Voila, Abundance.

Imagine if our society can operate on the Abundance Mindset?
Imagine how much fear and scarcity can be dissolved?

Learning 3: The Redwoods Are Spiritual Teachers.

(Note: Spiritual teachers, not religious teachers. While the practice of religion can be spiritual. The practice of spirituality doesn’t need to be religious.)

Before our visit with the redwoods, my partner and several friends mentioned “the redwoods are magical!” to me. I was intrigued and curious. But I didn’t quite understand the “how”.

Oh boy did I understand that right away. As we walked in the forests, the whole world seemed to quiet down, slow down, and, at times, become quite still. The leaves of the redwoods, on the contrary to the size of the bodies of the trees, are small. But they are wide-spread and tightly connected with each other. It creates a special visual effect as you look up to the canopy: they look like twinkling stars! Most of our walks and hikes in the redwood forests were in the afternoon, which means the sun was moving west and shining on the east, which is where the coast redwoods are. The gentle sunshine traveling through the small leaves, created this visual experience that was almost a “trick”: the leaves were blinking at me! Accompanied by gentle breeze, it felt as if the leaves were whispering. But what did they say? That really is up to each visitor.

One of the “famous redwoods” we visited was the Corkscrew. A giant, curious redwood that has no record of its age. Looking at it, observing its size, I’d say, it has been in the forest for probably 1,000+ years. Why Cockscrew? Unlike most coast redwoods that are tall and straight, Corkscrew is tall and twisted. From the main side (that faces the hiker path), it looks as if someone twisted the body of the tree and it goes upward in a spiral. From the back side (you can do a 360 degree walk-around it), however, it looks like a casa that welcomes everyone who decides to be led by curiosity and visit the back of the tree. Why do I say that? The back side of the Corkscrew is open. It has a “step” up towards the “living room”, where a much younger tree lives, in the heart of the Corkscrew. I couldn’t believe it as I took the step and entered the tree, being greeted by the space and the tree inside. No words exchanged. Yet, everything was said. As it happened, the sunlight was shedding right at the young tree, and me, as I was hugging it. Without explanation, tears rolled down my cheeks. Not sadness, but a profound compound of surrender, relief, grief, joy, and peace. “I will come back to see you.” was what I said as I exited the casa of the Corkscrew.

I don’t advocate or preach for spirituality. It is not for everyone and it shouldn’t be “sold” or “pitched” as some kind of commodity. In the forest, however, if we have an open heart that doesn’t prepare for anything but also is ready for everything, we may just encounter Magic.

Imagine if our society believed in magic and profound wisdom?
Imagine how many children and adults would thrive from their own gifts and magic?

Learning 4: The Redwoods are Timeless.

It is believed that the coast redwoods may eventually die off and become extinct, due to climate change and drought (less foggy days and higher temperatures), catastrophic wild fires, and habitat fragmentation. Do we have an opportunity to save the redwoods? Maybe. What if the redwoods really are gone someday? They will then become our ancestors, just as the fallen woods were. The redwoods have witnessed time and space, and everything that’s happened in time and in space in millenia. Even when they are gone, their memory and wisdom will likely stay: in the coast, in the soil, in the other trees and plants, in the animals, and in the mountains. Time, in the forests, is not linear. As the ecosystem grows the new, nurtures the young, supports the mature, and renews the dead, the redwood forests are a world that preserves time and history. And history is never complete without humanity.

As we walked through the groves, I realized that these forests are guardians and masters of the past, the present, and the future. Perhaps you were the members of the Indigenous nations; perhaps you were the ones who cut down the old trees; perhaps you were the ones who woke up from this deforestation nightmare and vowed to change it; perhaps, like me, you were a student who happens to be humbled and schooled by these giants… The thing is, we were all here at some point. We are in these forests, together.

The redwoods are interdependent, interconnected, living in abundance, whispering magic, spreading wisdom in silence, and unfazed by time.

So are we humans, I hope.

humbly and hopefully,
Zhou Fang