What Do You Need to Prune in Order to Grow?
Growth is not endless, nor should it be. As human beings, we have limited energy and resources, and that’s okay, but that means that when we're ready to grow, sometimes we need to make room.
A plant can’t expand any further than its surroundings or allotment of nutrients allows. If it tries to expand beyond the space of its pot, or if it's been surrounded by concrete, it’ll start to break through everything around it, and the destruction can be devastating.
You can’t take on more when you’re already at your limit; it’s okay to recognize and remind yourself of that. But if you’re ready and willing to grow, you need to start pruning away the things that are holding you back.
We've been talking about this a lot in the community lately - how some things in our lives are meant to be transient. We hold onto them, they help us grow, then we release them when we're finished with that phase of our lives.
If we want to grow, we need to make space. We need to acknowledge old thoughts and patterns that are holdovers from previous experiences, people, and habits. We need to get rid of routines and processes that don’t contribute to our goals anymore.
But this is where equally dangerous holdovers from a capitalist, white supremacist society creep in and must be recognized:
Removing all that doesn’t serve you doesn’t mean forgoing relationships and things that bring you joy to fully pursue your career.
You don’t have to have a one-track mind to be successful. You don’t have to prune away the daily habits that bring you joy in favor of constant work and stress.
Remember that you are a human with wants and needs beyond the capitalist definition of success.
I go into more detail on this in my new piece!
This question is also an excerpt from the journal prompts for the Full Moon Ritual on Saturday! Don't forget to DM me to grab your tickets!
