Pulling Weeds

 This morning the sun was bright, the sky blue, the breeze light and welcoming. I was buoyed and felt light as I stepped out my front door to embark on my morning walk. What caught my eye and screamed “I need attention” were the weeds that had instantaneously and insidiously decorated the flower beds along our walkway.  With the frigid whiteness of winter just a few weeks removed from our memory new and incestuous life is had appeared.

  My walk was meditative and equally invigorating. When I returned home I grabbed a quick bite to eat and before I showered I decided that I better get outside and attend to mess that had suddenly sprouted.   With garden gloves, hand tools and weed bucket in hand I was up for the challenge. This one I knew I was going to win.  It was me against the weeds….they didn’t stand a chance.

  The spreading evergreen bushes in the flower bed had already been trimmed by the local deer.  I thought to myself, “How perfect would this world be if deer loved the taste of weeds? “ Could you imagine having a living weed remover that costs you nothing more than a few plants? Oh well we can dream. The deer will continue to eat my plants and ignore the weeds that reside literally right under their noses.

  As I bent over and yanked hard on the first few weeds they resisted and the greens broke off at the stem.  Under the soil the root was still intact.  I picked up my hand shovel and began digging towards the anchor, the force that keeps the ornery plant alive.  They fasten themselves deeply to the root to support their cause.    If I was going to win this war I need to disarm the enemy at its core.

  With each pull on the green and viney growth I was inching closer towards clarity.  Aren’t these stubborn and uninvited guests much like the obstacles that we encounter in our lives?  We all have weeds that attach to us.  You know the undesirable pieces of us that impede the beauty of our personal landscapes. They anchor us to the belief that we are unlovable, undesirable or unwanted. Or, simply a nuisance.

 I abandoned the pulling and I began digging.  I wanted, no needed, to unearth the roots of the weeds so that they would have difficulty resurfacing. 

 After trimming some tree branches my husband joined me.  He pulled a few and threw them into the bucket.  I asked. “Did you get the roots?”

  “Uh, I don’t think so” he answered.  I circled back to where he came from and began digging towards the roots.   I could tell he was angry with me.  He believed that I was questioning his work, but little did he know that I was on a mission.  Today these stubborn and annoying weeds gave me the gift of clarity. To deal with an issue you need to get to its core, right to the root. 

  Earlier as I was pulling, yanking and digging I thought to myself.  When I am finished I need to buy some of that black plastic weed blocker.  I can lie that down over this flower bed and then cover it with the chocolate colored mulch.  The weeds won’t grow through that and I won’t have to deal with this anymore. 

  From the surface that is a quick fix, but lurking beneath the black plastic resides the roots of those weeds, those issues.  Maybe the lack of sunlight and water will impede their growth but their core remains.  Can we every really bury our issues if we do not deal with the real cause of them?  Not really.  And if we trick ourselves into believing so it is merely a temporary fix.  In order to move forward and grow we need to come face to face with the issue.  Stare at it and if it wishes allow it to stare back, Until we do so no cutting, pulling, or yanking will resolve what has fastened itself to our hearts. The negative will hinder us from blooming into all of the beautiful goodness that resides within.

   I finished my chores and admired those flower beds with crisp edges and weed less zones. I was not exhausted, but exhilarated.  Today from those suborn, bullish and pervasive dandelions I garnered a great lesson.  Don’t cover up or cut off the problem at its base look beneath, beyond and within to unearth the deep seated cause. Once you eradicate the root issue you can truly bloom into a beautiful unencumbered flower you are meant to be.