Thursday, January 18, 2007

Blooming


Thank you, Mike. For helping me bloom.

Monday, January 15, 2007

Nature is Pruning


We are in the middle of a snow storm. We lost power for most of the evening, all night last night, and most of today. The trees, and everything else, are coated in ice. All night last night, with the silence that no electricity brings, I lay and listened to the branches and limbs cracking and falling to the ground. I was boiling water on the grill this morning when I looked up into the trees in our backyard.
Our trees are bent with the weight of all the ice accumulated on them. A lot of the branches are snapping and breaking from the weight. I thought about how this is a lot like the burdens we carry in life. We can handle a little ice from time to time. But when it all piles up on us, sometimes it can be too much. Little pieces of us tend to break off.
I know when the spring comes the trees will bloom and grow leaves. Most of the places where branches broke off will no longer be visible. We will once again see the beauty of the trees. I wonder if this is nature’s way of pruning those parts of the trees that are no longer necessary to the trees in order for them to function.
Oftentimes, when we go through a tough time in life, and our burdens seem too much to bear, we tend to lose little pieces of ourselves. We find ways to cope, ways to make it through the tough times. Once we get through those times, we often feel changed. We look at ourselves and see who we used to be and who we have become. We may miss those pieces, but we are still beautiful for who we are. Maybe that is life’s way of pruning us. Helping us to rid ourselves of those things we no longer need, the things that can be more destructive than good; and find ways of adapting to life around us.
I am sure that my trees will be fine once this storm is over. I will have to pick up those excess pieces. But I think that my tree will bloom. The leaves will cover the branches and limbs and we will appreciate their beauty once again. I just hope that I can muddle through life’s burdens. Stand strong as a tree. Bend when I need to. And though I may break at times, I hope I remember that the true beauty will come from within. And that once the winter is gone, I will once again bloom.