Farewell to an old friend …
Parting is such sweet sorrow … Juliet in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet
In Hinduism, Shiva is a deity who represents transformation. Through destruction and restoration, Shiva reminds us that endings are beginnings, and that our world is constantly undergoing a cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Karen Salmansohn
The Pivot invites me to pivot numerous times this morning before the heart speaks clearly to guide the direction and focus of today’s Pivot ink. That direction isn’t what came when the pen first met paper early with my restless heart stirring in the wake of courageous voices and their stories speaking last evening at the ‘People’s State of the Union’ on the National Mall. Real people, having found their voices, courageous, some trembling, all enduring the cold night share their experience and show us what resistance looks like. An alternative to the story being told in the Capitol building at the same time.
And The Pivot wasn’t to be about my presence to how the world ‘out there’ is reflecting the inner turmoil many, I supposed most, of us are experiencing in this intense, transformative time where we are witness to the death of systems, beliefs, ways once held dear at the same time new ones, ones that honor Life, are rising. We are gifted with abundant opportunities to look within to examine, to choose to let go of all that no longer serves Life. At least that’s how I’m experiencing and observing this time.
Each of these is a topic worthy of attention and exploration as I engage in my own inner queries and musing. What the heck is this time about for me? For our world? For Life? For the cosmos? Musings for another day.
Yet as I sat quietly then moved about the house, apparently not quite ready to hear my heart’s call, the guidance became crystal clear: Letting go! Saying ‘good bye’ to two large tree beings and many large branches in other trees that need to be removed for fire safety. Being grateful for their service, their beauty, and honoring them for enduring the mitigation process – that of facing death to help protect this home and then, to be reborn, transformed into a new purpose – providing warmth for the home in winters to come.
These trees seem a powerful metaphor for this transformative time we are in, both individually and collectively. And for that awareness, I am ever grateful.
When I made the decision to mitigate a few weeks back, I talked with each tree, apologizing, expressing my gratitude, and asking for their understanding and cooperation. I honored each with a small stone and talked with the tree elders in the woods out back as well as the mountain to ask for their guidance, understanding, and support.
I revisit posts from earlier mitigation on the land in 2014 and 2020 to recall my thoughts at that time. I notice a cycle in the mitigation – six years between each. I’m reminded as I read the old posts how my relationship with the tree beings and all Life in these woods and beyond has deepened in the 12 years that I’ve been blessed to occupy and steward this place.
Now, as mitigation day comes closer, I begin to say my last farewells and consider what gifts to offer each for their sacrifice. Wondering ‘what is proper?’ and ‘what is enough?’, I ask for guidance, trusting that the perfect guidance will come, while knowing that the depth of my intentions and care will compensate for any oversight and trusting that divine perfection will prevail. I’m reminded that endings are beginnings, and that our world is constantly undergoing a cycle of birth, death and rebirth.
What if, I wonder, I/we could trust this transformative time with its cycles of death and rebirth with the same knowing and trust?
Caring for the lichen and other Life that lives on the trees.