I know what you’re thinking already, why is this crazy girl posting pictures of dead leaves in JULY?! Well, to me, these fallen summer leaves speak of a release of burdens, if you will, rather than full on autumn prep of alllllll the leaves coming down. The trees aren’t anywhere near ready to let go, they are still enjoying the splendor of strong sunshine and warm days, but they are dropping what they don’t need at the moment. I feel like we should take cues from the trees, don’t you?

Creation shows the way, if we keep our eyes open, but we have to ignore what the world says about letting go. Trees obviously don’t think about letting go of their leaves, they just do, because yeah, they’re trees. But if humans did a seasonal assessment of what to let go, I can imagine it would (ok, really more like SHOULD) go like this: “Bye, bitterness”, “So long, resentment”, “Catch ya later, bad attitude”, “No more room EVER for you, selfishness”, and/or “Buh bye lack of self control”. The world tells us it’s ok to be self centered, angry at others for perceived slights, hard hearted unless there’s something in it for us, and that we should only do what makes us feel good. THAT’S SO HARMFUL, and WHY would we want to think so little of the other humans around us?!

I know that not everyone has the (slightly) strange love affair with trees, leaves, shadows and such as I do, but we should all embrace this letting go deal. Then we should think of how much we could GROW through the process. Growth often involves pruning, shedding, and drum roll, please ….. letting go of the old. So, here’s to a summer check of what we need to remove from our lives, so we can fully enjoy the present season, and prepare for the next.

Slightly less glorious capture of shed leaves is a reminder that perspective matters, too, right?

With Sunbeams and Love,

Racheal Xx