Sometimes non-conventional wisdom is needed. I haven’t written here in a long time. When I started this blog I knew there would be periods like this. I also knew that by not posting regularly, and staying in frequent contact with my “audience” I was going against the best marketing advice and gurus. But then I’ve often broken with conventions.
Maybe you’re confused about your path or your pace right now. Maybe you think you should be doing more or less of something. Maybe you know what to do but don’t know how. Or maybe you don’t have a clue what’s next or right.
I’ll admit I was temporarily tempted to judge myself. You’re so lazy. You have no discipline. If you don’t write to the people in your list, they’ll forget you. Then I stopped, because deep in my bones I simply wanted to do less, travel more, take a break and enjoy the summer. I went to Poland for two weeks. I read a ton of books. I helped my son plan for his upcoming wedding. And interestingly this didn’t negatively affect my work or my income.
I’ve always preferred the wisdom of nature. Since I’ve been a little girl, I’ve loved trees, from the old grand elms lining the street of my childhood home, to the huge weeping willow that I always paused under for shade in the middle of a long bike ride, to the sequoias that made my breath catch in awe. Nature and trees in particular have been some of my best teachers.
Trees simply are. Over a year ago I got an image of a tree. An inner message came along with it. And here’s what that tree taught me:
You don’t have to struggle to know what you want because what you currently have is both what you want and need.
It all has to do with the level you are currently functioning at, whether it is fear, ambivalence, love.
You can be certain that what you currently have and are experiencing are on some level what you both want and need. Now we’re not talking here on a conscious level but rather on the level of the soul. There are no mistakes even when you are certain you are living a disaster, a tragedy- it is far from that.
Imperfection: I m perfection
Inbalance: in balance
Just as each negative word contains within it the positive so it is in your life whether you recognize this in the moment or not.
רגע/ רגוע Rega/ragua
רגעRega (moment)/רגועragua (calm)
Again, in each moment all is well. When you try to hold on to anything, a moment, or an object, you cause distress – inner and outer – just as if you tried to hold onto your breath or tried to not take in the next inhalation you’d experience a sense of suffocation. It is the same with all. Let go of holding on, holding in, holding out.
Be like a tree that knows how to receive from above and below, not deeming one as better than the other. Your sustenance, too, comes from both dark and light, from soil and sun.
Be like a tree that knows when to let go, whether it’s its leaves or fruit, knowing that as it does, IT still IS.
A tree does not fear these losses. Each stage of the process has its own inherent wisdom. Dying off, dormancy, new growth, ripeness/maturity. It is the same with your breath. Exhale- pause- inhale- pause.
Do you have favorite tree? Has a tree ever taught you something precious? Or do you simply have any thoughts on stopping and letting go? Write me below to share your thoughts.
