Bear’s Foot (Polymnia uvedalia) in bloom, always a sign that Fall is near!
Fall is on the horizon. This is always a good time to tease out what we need and what we don’t need to move forward in life. In the past, at this time of year, I have left a job that was not fulfilling anymore…left a relationship that no amount of watering could revive…left a place that just didn’t open doors for me even though I showed up fully… I have let go of parts of myself…old habits…that were worn-out and suffocating… And, I have simply donated clothes that were not being worn and were cluttering up my life…
It with this energy of fall that we can part with what is no longer serving us and just MOVE OVER…so that someone else can pick up where we left off or something else can move in and flourish… I have found that when I do figure out what to let go of…the freed up energy allows me to move into deeper contemplation on next steps during the winter months…and allow me to open to new possibilities for spring.
But, I’ve learned, that I have to get out of my own way first.
And, it’s not easy. Sometimes the attachment brings up unresolved pain and that needs to be felt. Other times, even though I rolled a huge rock off my back, I was comfortable with that rock on me and scared of the spaciousness of letting go. But, I persisted and I, then, filled my lungs with big breath of air.
I sat in that spaciousness and I sat with me, just as I was…and that was enough.
Either way, the trapeze artist has a thing or two to say about this letting go thing. Hold on to the swinging bar. Jump off of the platform. Remember there is a net down there. Let go. Fly. Trust that there will be a swinging bar headed your way to grab a hold of.
(Oh, but the time flying through the air can be freeing and terrifying all at once.)
But, when an action is anchored in the soul’s perfectly messy ways…we just know it is the right thing to do…we know what to let go of…and then, we are ready to grab a hold of the next swinging bar when it shows itself.
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My personal letting go this year is a bigger one than usual. It’s more than just donating clothes or pruning back dead branches in the garden.
I am letting go of Sweet Gum Springs Apothecary, which was started back in the spring of 2013. It’s time for me to turn her into the compost and see what rises from the sweet rot of completion.
Here is a link to our going out of business sale.
Instead of constantly stalking plants (smile), digging, pruning, peeling back bark, and making medicine…which I will still do on a smaller scale…and setting up at farmer’s markets, festivals, and herb conferences…I am shifting things around so that I have more energy to work with clients, to write, and to teach. I’m also intentionally making room and time for the little one that is about to burst into our lives here at home.
This feels right and this feels good.
The apothecary has been like herb programs and classes I’ve taken TIMES A HUNDRED. I promise you…that as much as you’ve learned from me…I have learned from you. I have heard countless stories of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual struggle. I have heard countless stories of personal recovery and determination to restore balance. I have heard wonderful stories of how plant medicine participated in aiding your bodies…your minds…and your spirits…
My dedication to this work with plants has only strengthened because of all of this. And, my work with plants and people and planet continues on…it’s just taking on a new form… Truly, after all these changes and “letting go moments” in my life…nothing is ever lost…just one form giving way to the next…all to become a truer form…and a truer expression…
Thank you…from the tips of my toes to the top of my head…thank you.
Lindsay Kolasa 