Cutting Back

Dear Diary,

Of all the garden chores, cutting back the perennials each autumn is my least favorite.  It is tedious and back breaking grunt work for me and I can only do 15-20 minutes at a time.  I'm about half done and the kids will be here on Monday to finish it up but I try to do as much of it as I can.  Believe it or not, I see it as a spiritual practice of sorts.

It is hard for me to let go.  If a plant has one small bloom left I hesitate to cut it back.  This process in the garden reinforces the need, at times, to let things go.  To thank them sincerely for the joy they brought this summer and then put them to rest.

I've been doing that around the house too, letting go of things that are no longer useful or whose time has passed.  Letting go...it is spiritual practice that finds its perfect metaphor in a basket of withering, browning foliage.  So today, despite the fact the temperature will not rise out of the 40's F, I will bundle up and continue my chore.  The pot of chicken noodle soup I made yesterday will warm me when I finish and, like many spiritual practices, I will have a great feeling of release and peace when I'm done.

Some of us think holding on makes us strong, but sometimes it is letting go. –  Herman Hesse