Changing seasons and staying connected

[clevermanka]

angel_in_purple shared something with me on Sunday.

It's not cold or lack of chlorophyll that causes leaves to fall from the tree. Rather, the tree itself sends chemicals that cut the leaves off. The tree doesn't want to support the weight of the leaves or feed them through the winter, so it cuts the stems. The leaves don’t just fall off. The tree must remove them.

This was obvious once I thought about it. All the time I see old branches with brown leaves still attached. Even shaking the branch won't loosen those dead, dry leaves.

In order to shed undesirable leaves and grow healthy new ones, I must stay connected. Limbs grow and separate, some branch apart. But in order to continue the cycle of shedding and growing, I must stay connected to my tree, my tribe, and (most importantly) my own self. If I sever the connection to my core self and those who center me, I am stuck on a dead branch—unable to shed old leaves or grow new ones.

Too many times I confined myself in a relationship or hobby that all but severed me from my tree. Eventually, I found myself stagnating and unable to shed or grow. With luck (and effort), I recovered my connection before that branch died and fell (with me in it) to the ground.

There are pine trees that grow largely in one direction, with relatively short, small branches. I’m more along the lines of a redbud or dogwood—not so tall, but divergent, with many branches that wind around each other. But no matter how many or few branches I grow, I need to stay connected to my main core in order to shed, bloom, and grow. We all do.

I want to thank all the wonderful, beautiful, and loving people who live with me in the trunk of my tree and who support me as I learn how deep my roots can go.