Launch Post - What is the land saying?

In Paul Kingsnorth's article, he poses an interesting question: We imagine how it feels to be a character, why can't we imagine how the land feels?" He goes on to describe his observation of how humans interact with nature.  His consensus is that they interact with nature the same way they would interact with a machine, utilizing nature for their own purposes.  The point I think Paul is trying to make is that nature is more vital to our existence than merely a tool to be used.  Humans need to not see nature as a tool we can utilize but as an aware and profound creation we can nature and understand instead of merely take from and destroy.

For Suzanne Simard, a forest ecologist, her opinion of nature, specifically forests, is quite similar.  Suzanne developed a love for studying forests and trees.  In her TED talk, she describes how she did an actual experiment of different species of trees and learned that the trees actually talk to each other and communicate about water, nitrogen, phosphorous, hormones, defense signals and more.  She talks about how forests can self heal and how their roots are like a complex underground network similar to that of an internet.  Suzanne also points out how forests are still vulnerable.  When a hub tree or too many are removed, the entire system will collapse.  She stresses four solutions: 1. People should reconnect with the forrest and learn to love it.   2.  We need to preserve the old forests through less cutting.  3.  The legacies and mother trees should be prioritized.  4.  Forests need to have diverse species.

I think Paul and Suzanne's information is very important.  Both of these writers feel a strong drive to communicate about how they believe the Earth functions as more than just a tool, and how it should be understood and even have its needs met and heard.  I guess my question for you is, have you ever had an experience where you felt the Earth was more than a recourse, for example that it had a soul or greater awareness?  Do you feel forests and trees communicate?  Also, and perhaps most importantly, if you were to further Paul's question and imagine how the land feels, what do you think it would be saying?