Cutting out the deadwood

For many plants, spring has come early this year. Our beautiful Salix, which is over 24 years old (picture was taken 7 years ago) now needs its annual haircut. Thus, I set forth last weekend, and found a lot of deadwood hidden amongst the greening branches.

I do not think I have ever cut away so much deadwood in one year. The photo now would show a big gap in the middle of the shrub. It is almost shocking to see because of course, I want it to look full and beautiful. However, in cutting away the deadwood, I found so much potential new growth waiting to burst forth as little tiny buds, which I would not otherwise have seen and potentially would not have grown.

To me this is a real metaphor for life. We carry a lot of ‘deadwood’ around with us. Old, outdated belief systems, habits, situations and sometimes people that have run their course. Yet we often continue to carry them with us, not even realising they are no longer relevant or helpful to anyone.
When we realise we have been carrying all of this around and prepare to let it go, it can feel like a huge hole in our lives. We may ask, ‘What do I do now?’ or, even more importantly, ‘Who am I?’

Yet this is a powerful moment in our lives. We have made space for something new, something that we would not have experienced if we had not cut out that deadwood. Further, this ‘newness’ has the potential to be beautiful and profound for us.

Right now, as we move through Lent, we are using Unity‘s Lenten booklet to let go of something different every day. I joked at the beginning of the season, that
if we were able to let go of everything listed, we would rise up like angels, so light would we be.

​Yet really, this is no joking matter. It is true.

How much are you carrying around with you today? How much are you holding onto something or someone that feels like a dead weight, restricting and limiting you? Can you find a way to recognise that which you no longer need and let it go to its good?

Something I really desire to let go of, is people pleasing. It can still have an unconscious hold on me, which then creates resentment, frustration, limitation etc. My response is to breathe through this quality and associated feelings, to free myself and everyone else as well!
In its place, I claim and know strength, authority and wisdom. For when we let go, it is important to remember that we must claim something positive and empowering in its place. Otherwise, the old feelings and habits return multiplied. As explained in the parable in Matthew 12: 43-45.

There is a quote by Lao Tzu:
In the end, the treasure of life is missed by those who hold on and gained by those who let go.

This Lenten season, I encourage you to join me in letting go of the old ‘deadwood’. Look for the new growth that may have previously been hidden, but is waiting to bloom and grow in you. Claim it, feel it, give thanks for it. For there is untold treasure waiting for you and our world. I invite you to break free of limitation and know the full potential that is bursting forth through you this year.