The trees know (and you can too). . . . . . . . . .

I cut a tree down at the front of my house last week.  Not a whole, big tree, a small one that had grown pretty wild.  It sprawled so far out that it was a struggle to get past.  Armed with a saw, hedge clippers, a pruning instrument and a sense of purpose, out I went.

Clipping, hacking, pruning, I worked diligently on that tree.  At first, I was pleased, proud of myself………….. ‘Look at me chopping down an actual tree!’  Soon after, the initial rush of action-oriented exhilaration wore off.  This was hard work.  Really hard work. 

Why was everything such a mess?  Why were there so many messes?  Why was it so demanding?  Every time I made some headway, new parts sprang up, as if from nowhere. Intertwined leaves, twigs, branches and buds.  It was never ending.  There was no order to this.  I couldn’t see a way through.

It was only when I sat down to take a break that I was face to face with the more solid parts of the tree.  The biggest branches, connected to the trunk that was deeply rooted into the soil beneath us.  Everything came from there, from the bottom upwards, not the top, downwards.

From this angle, I could see the patterns.  These few big branches had given life to the hundreds of smaller ones. The clusters of intertwined chaos were coming from the foundations of the tree.   When I snipped and pruned there, tended to those parts, everything above seemed to fall more easily into place.  It was there, at the root that I needed to explore.

A clear example of nature demonstrating human life.

The deeply rooted patterns are where it all begins.

The roots of these patterns are strong, bedded in; they’ve been there for years.

It’s not easy, often a gruelling process, where different instruments and systems are required.

Throughout the process and afterwards, I wondered if it was all worth it.  Did I even like the tree now?  Maybe I preferred it before? I’m smiling as I’m typing this.

Doubt and unease are natural in the process of anything new and unfamiliar.

And just like the tree, we sit with that, honouring all parts of ourselves that aren’t too sure.

From the bottom up, from the inside out.  

That's how the light gets in.

J X