I’ve always loved trees as a child and drew deep wisdom from them throughout my life. I watched the rustling of the leaves in the summer and the changing colors in the fall. I could sit under a tree for hours gazing up, watching the sunlight push through its branches and leaves. My how they stood tall amidst all of the forest regal and wise. Although I’m no tree hugger, I’ve been known to befriend a tree or two that have resided outside the entrances into my homes. Checking in each day as I go to and fro. Their steady presence amidst the constant ebs and flows of my days.
Up until a few years ago, the one time I didn’t look forward to gazing at trees was in the winter. Barren. Brown. Lifeless. Nothing dynamic about a tree with no leaves. Close to dead. I would wait patiently for the winter to pass so that we could reacquaint ourselves again in the spring.
I have grown to appreciate the barren trees of the winter and all that they reveal. A lifting of the mask of leaves and flowers. A behind the scenes look. A peek behind the curtain. The structure and the grace. The twists and the turns. I watch their naked branches stretch for the sky and their roots tap deep into the Earth. And the stories that these trees reveal in the winter. The bird and squirrel nests that have taken residence all year. The marks and burns from past lightening storms. The branches they lost and the scars that are left behind. I admire the courage and the audacity of these trees to strip down each season. To bare their souls to us all in the darkest and coldest season. And in the midst of it all, they continue to stand tall in all their glory claiming their essence without all that glitz and glam, without all that “productivity” and shimmer. No flowers. No buds. No leaves. Just roots and branches. Trees are so transparent in the winter. You can see right through them. Nothing to hide. And I find them absolutely captivating.
Are you willing to strip down like the trees of winter and witness who you really are?
Who are you when all the worldly and societal markers of the outer self are removed? What soul stories do your roots and branches tell? Who are you outside of your job titles, roles, physical appearance, and productivity? What’s left when you aren’t defined by your worldly successes and failures?
To know your soul’s ways, deepest desires and expressions…what a meaningful journey that can be. It takes some unmasking, stripping down, and moving aside all of the ways we define ourselves from an external standpoint. Often times we overidentify with the stories and narratives of the who the world tells us we are. It is important to remember who we are within. For it is the being within that sustains us, inspires us, fulfills us, directs us, and connects us.
My greatest hope is that you’ll take a season or a lifetime to experience the truth of yourself. The part of you that is pure Being, that is unlimited, that is authentic expression, and that is Love.
You are more than what you “do”.
You are more than your weight and your hair.
More than your awards and medals.
You are more than your failures and accomplishments.
You are more than your goals and to do lists.
More than Instagram pics and Facebook friends.
More than your job title and status.
You are more than your past.
There is nothing you need to prove or have to justify your worthiness. You are worthy just for simply being.
Remember today and in this moment that you were created in Love. And if you take a look and are brave enough to take a peek into your own quiet interiority, you will find all the qualities of Love.
And like the tree in the winter that bares her soul to the world….
You are elegant.
You are intricate.
You are glorious and expansive in every way.
So take rest in the peace, beauty, and Love that resides within you….it is there at all times…waiting to be revealed.
Photo credit: Donna Manuel
