"Make way for the process (of regeneration.) You can expect it to be messy but worth it.

In these Northern woods, Spring is humming along, just under the surface. One has a sense that this precious season is waiting at the gate, almost ready to burst forth. We can feel it in the heat of the sun, in the buds emerging, and in the earth melting into the air, while the scents of both mingle and dance.

First, though, before this season fully arrives, I have one more step to take; a step I might call the dissolving and purging. The snow has melted, the frogs have traveled across the roads to their summer homes, the crocuses have emerged. And yet, I see, in my garden, litter that would interfere with new growth, hard to melt remains of last year, unneeded garbage lingering around on the edges and in the garden beds; there are places even, where the snow has pushed litter right up and into the beds, as it melted in torrents. These leftovers make for poor bedfellows with the emerging new, (the next photo shows tulips struggling through the winter cover.) Before the emergence of new life in the heart of our homes, I see one more great sweep waiting to happen, Everywhere.

Sometimes, I pretend I could overlook this job; I imagine skipping this crucial step, putting off or ignoring the difficult decisions, difficult choices and uncomfortable dialogues. I imagine I might simply dive instead into the excitement and thrill of planting, tilling and tending to the rebirth of life. But after so many years and attempts to bypass this culling and weeding through the old, I have learned that without the removal of the decay and trash, that the life-to-be will not thrive. I have learned it will have less room to grow, less room to bask in its fullness.

So today, I start raking, digging, weeding. I pull and drag the old, yesteryear's garbage out of the fertile soil and to the compost pile. While doing this, I am comforted to know that there, in the compost, the remains of the old will gain a new life. There it will transmute itself into the black gold my garden loves. It will recycle itself for future use. The composting of decay is welcome here.

Ahh, what a lovely moment, this sprinkling of fertilizer onto my garden to be... Mmm

But first, PURGE!!

There are decisions to be made. I must look and ask which plant is best to move, save, or recycle. This moment requires pausing, noticing how all the plants work together, or don't.

To create an ecosystem anywhere, where all can thrive and intermingle, where all can have sustainability and feel welcome, I must make room for each, keeping in consciousness their individual needs. So to make room for diversity, I have learned to pause, initiate dialogue with the plants rooted in my view, recognizing each contributions to the whole ~ their gifts. I like this part of the sweep, it makes me smile.

Some elementals, some people, and some systems have a much easier time than others digging out the old, culling and purging. Their makeup seems to make the process so much smoother. In Chinese medicine, these beings would be described as having a metal disposition. Me? I am a wood personality. I surge, grow, and expand. I flow, I bend and dance; I weave and gather.... But actively choose to purge? Ahh, That is not so easy for me.

So, Thank you! Thank you metal elementals! Thank you for being with me in spirit here today, walking with me, reminding me of the joy, the freedom and healing of letting go. Of reminding me of the necessity of letting things dissolve, letting them transform into other states. And thank you for showing me how to do so, without hesitation. Thank you, without you, I might simply cozy in, and settle into my known nest, and choose not to dig out the old, forgetting that the bigger visions, the dreams, all require initial ground work. The visions of beautiful gardens that thrive together require preparing the beds and soil for new life.

After taking this moment to breath into who is present, I return to the digging. I dig deep into the native soil to root out the weeds, rake off of the protective layer of leaves. Here I dive deep, there, I brush off surface debris, all with an eye to the work of cleaning out, cleaning up my inner ground so that life can create new life, and flourish.

There are, in all this cleaning, tricky moments, confusing areas, where the mess seems quite entangled in the history of the perennials that I love. Or where the messes feel too big for me to manage on my own. I am learning to ask Spirit for help, to ask the elementals around me to show me the way through the obstacles in order to bring harmony and progress.

I remind myself - don't let go of the vision, nor the dreams~ Explore, question, dig, ask questions, and always, when in doubt, pause. An answer arrives, a shift will occur. An ecosystem in harmony is a moving tide. Presence, breath, heart all mixed in equal measure, creates the balance of beauty, laughter and joy. I hold the faith that in the whole, there is great potential for life, which in turn has an ability to dream itself into creation, into manifestation.

And that is a miracle. Under me is a miracle waiting to happen.
Messy at times, yes;
beautiful in the end.
A miracle and a blessing.