As a tree grows taller, and leaves and branches spread upward and around it, the older and lower branches tend to die off and drop to the ground. Where they existed becomes part of the expanding trunk of the tree. The knot is buried deep inside the trunk itself or sometimes the place is marked by a burl on the outside of the tree. It’s a natural part of life. We’re like that too—as we constantly grow and regenerate, we need to fluff off stuff that’s become inanimate—like dead skin, old patterns and habits, and branches of our lives that we’re no longer on. We don’t have to judge what’s completed, we just need to grow out of it and expand beyond it. Grow new branches, grow more leaves to capture the light, more blooms or berries if that’s your thing. This is why I can’t regard anything that’s occurred in the past to be a failure or disaster. It’s created each one of us into who we are now, today. We can look at a knot in our life either as an imperfection or a work of art. We can value it in anyway way we want to. That’s where our freedom as human beings comes into play: we are free to look at anything in the light of growth and enlightenment or we can regret a branch that fell off a long time ago. Don’t try to hold onto what’s gone. You’ve grown much bigger, your roots are stronger and deeper, and you’ve expanded ever more fully into the light … you are past all that now.
