I am not much of a gardener but I come from a lineage of green thumb, avid gardeners. I have very early memories of walking in the rows of gladiolas that my grandfather grew to sell to florists. I can still taste the delicious sun drenched and warm tomatoes from my mother’s garden. To this day, at age 88 (which we are calling double infinity) my mother has a gorgeous garden encircling her house. My husband and I brought home offspring of her beautiful Lenten Rose, three kinds of Hostas, and several “Hen and Chicks”. I’m hoping that by planting plantings from her garden, that my garden will grow.
Last Fall became Winter before I got around to putting my garden to bed. Several plants needed to be pruned before being covered with compost. That didn’t happen. I hate pruning. It feels so mean plus ….I forgot. As a result, my perennial flowers are struggling. My small Rambling Rose seems to jump out and bite me, I swear! It made me so angry that I almost pruned right out of the ground! My poor Lavendula is working hard to push past last years dead stems. My climbing Clematis is bulging, wild and fearsome. Several bushes are now becoming compost having not survived the winter.
Pruning is evidently necessary to healthy growth. But I don’t like it. I like it even less in my own personality and lifestyle. But oh the suffering I cause myself and others when I refuse to let go of what is dead and gone or needs to be. I annoy myself with reruns of what I shoulda, coulda, woulda done if I could redo ages 25- 45. I apologize and then apologize all over again instead of just accepting pro-offered grace. I can be really annoying, mostly to myself. And even that judgement could use a pruning.
I believe Autumn is the season for pruning so perhaps by then I will have steeled myself to cut off that which has not born fruit and let what is done be done and gone. I am in the season of being a crone. I’d like to be a lively and wise crone like my double infinity, green thumbed mother who has also taught me the importance of doing what needs to be done and then letting it be. Amen. Let it be so.
thesoulpurposedotorg 