Spring forth

The first thing I notice on The Path today is the hedge that I would like to say has been trimmed but in fact seems to have been butchered. Ouch! So there's quite a brutal quality to the walk already. The raw, protruding twig-ends adding to the air of severance. All in the name of health and new growth perhaps but surely there is a gentler way? Pruning, for example, still has a nippy quality to it and yet seems kinder and more considered at the same time. Of course, this isn't just about the hedge. It's a reflection of what is going on inside me. Double ouch! 

I notice a sense of severance going on in and all around me at the moment. I seem to be letting go of so much lately. Most changes I am making by choice but others are being thrust upon me. Out of the blue. Either way, it can be quite bewildering. The pain of separation is also painfully evident throughout the family on a number of levels. When one of us is in pain, whether physically, emotionally, mentally or spiritually, it is easy for me to assume the pain is either mine or the theirs and yet the truth is we are not as separate as we think we are. We all have the capacity to feel each others pain. Similarly, as a part of the whole called Humanity, pain is both a personal and a collective experience. It's no wonder so many of us have a tendency to switch off, disconnect, numb and distract ourselves! The good news is; in order to lessen the collective pain of Humanity we need only look at our own since what is acknowledged, allowed and transformed within is reflected in the outer world. Every step toward inner peace is automatically a step toward world peace. We are that effect-ive. That powerful. That connected.

As I continue the walk I come across barbed wire, broken glass and a bloody, headless pigeon. Boy, life can be tough! Then I notice these green shoots, possibly from some kind of bulb. My breath is taken away as I realise that even in the midst of winter new growth is already springing forth. Suddenly I am feeling lighter, warmer and more prepared for what is to come.

Light-bulb ;-)

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