It began one morning as I stood on our driveway, coffee in hand, enjoying the fall teaser of a cool morning, looking at our HOME when I realized my error. That error opened a door to a larger perspective. Let me tell you the story.
Fall is just about upon us, in terms of weather(!), and one of the most coveted seasons in our HOME is just around the corner. It’s not what you think…not anything to do with the holidays (that are fast approaching), not a birthday nor a special day of any kind to most people. It is the time that one tree on our property sags under the weight of its large singular globes of fruit. Throughout the years the kids have spent hours sprawled on our floors with towels beneath them and a movie playing as they painstakingly pry this tree’s seeds into a bowl. Their patience is unlimited for these tiny treasures and in the end the bowl reflects a small volcanic mountain of red pearls. However, this year will be different, because of my error, and it is the cause of this difference that made me realize an important process in our own lives.
The harvest will be small this year. The tree is strong, healthy and full of green leaves, but it is missing the fruit because I didn’t prune it. It resembles a big bush tree reaching to our roof line, and from appearances one would think all is well. But it isn’t. As I stood there on our driveway counting the measly number of pomegranates, as compared to last year when the number couldn’t be counted(!), I realized that life follows this same trajectory – a lot of stuff in our life does not make for a full harvested life. We need to prune, need to be pruned. We need to cut out, and cut back, to make room for the really important; to make it possible for all our energies to go to making the harvest in our life what we want it to be. There is no shortage of things clamoring for our attention and screaming for the A+ rating on our to-do lists. Daily obligations come with laundry, bills and bodies needing food. Then there are the parts worthy of attention like passions, hobbies, and skills we want to nurture. All of these are nestled in with our relationships and beliefs – the things that make us feel whole. So, what to prune? Why prune?… The ‘what’ is harder to tease out, but the ‘why’ is clear as I look at our pomegranate tree: the cutting away is what helps the future take shape, abundantly. I am realizing, again, that less can be more, and more can be too much.
I am not talking about “bad” things in life; we live in a time that offers up an unprecedented amount of opportunities for good, but there can be too many ‘good’ things. Pruning helps forage a devoted, purposeful life. My tree needs pruning, and although it is full of green good leaves and branches, there will not be much fruit…this year, but that will be changed. Nature has a way of shaking things up for me and I will take nature’s rule and shape my life and together, John and I will shape our business to serve those we are privileged to call clients, more excellently. I’ll close with a quote I recently read – “Purpose isn’t found in one sweeping gesture, but in the daily forging of a devoted life.”
As always, we hope you enjoy this insight from HOME life; we are here to help you, your family and friends with ALL THINGS HOME, be that finding your HOME, selling your HOME, consultations on HOME ROI (return on investment) projects, refinancing, or referrals for tradespeople on fixing your HOME. Give us a call (626) 688-9890, or send us an email – john.fredrickson@sothebys.realty.
Heading for the shears,
Tammy