Inspired by a Tree

     The picture above is of Seymour. My sycamore tree. I named him because I talk to him all the time. He is a beautiful, stately, big, strong tree that has been protecting our house, surviving even having his roots trimmed to make room for a new garage and many, many storms in his life. He's resilient for sure.

     I was introduced to a very cool tree trimming dude after a recent storm passed through that had left a very large upper branch dangling up high in this tree. I asked what, if anything, does Seymour and other trees in my yard need to be healthy and well cared for and Riley suggested a trim of the lower branches to boost their energy and health.
     This tree is pretty important to me and I told the tree trimmer this. He said exactly what I needed to hear to be reassured… “I will take care of it as if it were mine.” Perfect. So, they trimmed off some fairly substantial lower limbs. I cringed as they did it, even though I knew my intention was to care for the tree and help it to be its best – not to hurt it.
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     Sometimes in our lives, we too have lower branches that are draining our energy. These aren’t “bad” or “wrong” branches (people/circumstances), just lower energies that pull us down a bit and slow us from becoming stronger, more beautiful and whole. Those lower branches of Seymour were an important part of his development. Very needed at the time they came to be part of him. They helped him to become stronger early on.
     Some of these lower branches can end up preventing us from being fully healthy emotionally. Cutting them off – ugh. It is often deeply painful and difficult. I don’t know if Seymour feels pain where his lower branches were cut – but I feel some pain for him when I look at them. It takes some getting used to seeing him a bit more "naked" or the way I am used to seeing him.
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     But then, I look up. I see this massive, amazing feat of nature that looks strong, shapely, majestic and knowing. He is so much more than his cuts, or his removed lower branches that had become a  drag on his overall health. Those lower branches didn’t obscure the beauty of the bigger picture of this tree, they simply blocked off some of his own access to his full power. And it is the same with you and I with our own lower branches that drain our energy.

     Removing these lower energies (branches) from our lives usually requires some help from those who love us. Doing it on our own and just ripping it off without tools or help - trying to gut it out with willpower,  leaves a bigger wound that takes longer to heal and is more susceptible to “infection” and staying open and oozing longer. You can see in the two photos above, one limb removal with tools will likely heal faster than the one left jagged and without help. What does help look like for us humans in these removals?

• The compassion and empathy of a close friend
• No judgement (of others or ourselves), yet finding our own role in what happened
• Journaling/reading
• Being in nature
• Professional counselling, coaching

     These things help us heal in a way that gives us the ability to use our experience in service to others and not remain a victim, feeling damaged.

     I tell Seymour daily how even MORE beautiful he is now and that I hope he is healing from his trimming of the lower branches that were draining his energies. I give him a little pat and some love each time I walk by. We must also do this for ourselves as we trim up our lives. 

     What lower branches do you need to trim from your life? It may be other people or conditions. Or it may be that we need to remove things that we have created internally with mental or emotional habits like damaging thoughts or limiting beliefs. It may be thinking poorly of yourself, it may be beliefs that you hold about yourself that hold you back. What drains our energies may show up as other people, but the root of that manifestation is in our beliefs about ourselves. Our relationship with others is simply a movie screen that shows the relationship we have with ourselves.
     Please don’t make this into blaming yourself for any life-sucking situations you may currently be experiencing. Just know that you have the power to be accountable for your role in the conditions and that means you have the power to change it. This is very good news!
     Pay attention to what lights you up, when you feel happy, alive and free. Trim off anything you can that is counter to this in your life.

     Trimming our lives of the things that drain our energy is not easy. You’ll most likely need some help in the support of a close friend or a professional “trimmer” like a counselor or coach, but do it. Do it because the world needs your full beam energy. We need your light to shine as brightly as possible. That’s how you serve the world.

XOXXOXOXO,
Sandy