Arran bought me a bonsai for Christmas. I love it so. We chose a tiny Japanese maple together, and the sweet thing needs much attention. What we found fascinating was the gentleman who sold it to us asked if we were ok with it losing it’s leaves in Winter. I was puzzled and said ‘yeah of course, it’s a tree yes?’. He explained so many people like the bonsai to look ‘good’ and leafy all year round, and so keep them inside and away from natural light so they never went into hibernation mode, always keeping it’s green leaves so they won’t turn red and drop.
He said if we were ok with letting it see sunlight to pop it on our deck every so often and not to panic over Winter as it will be very barren, but come Spring the leaves will return.I found the whole conversation rather disturbing, and I’ve thought about a lot it since. The cruelty of not letting a bonsai (or anything else for that matter) not follow natures flow. The stifling and greed in ‘I choose prettiness over naturalness’.
I think it’s playing on my mind as we have just flown from Tokyo yesterday being 3 degree Celsius temperatures and into 38 in Sydney today. It’s a rough ride doing that to our bodies, and today has been a day for recalibration, swims in the ocean, eating nourishing food, doing what I love; getting organised and teaching to get me back into my Sydney flow.
Anyhow, I truly feel seasons are to be celebrated, not clamped down upon. Whatever they bring.
Who are we to demand nature bends to an aesthetic we best like? It’s like getting grossed out by a whole chicken and eating only chicken that looks like a white lump. Or red roses soaked in dye to make them a vibrant blue hue. Or insisting on eating fruit always out of season. It takes away a richness, a depth and a reverence to the flow of the universe.
I feel more deeply this is what we need in our modern world; more alignment with nature. It will look different to each of us. And you can live in a concrete tower without a tree and still be attuned to nature and it’s rhythms. For me this is why meditation is so utterly important. It’s a practice of every day aligning mind with body, heart with head, our individuality with the flow of consciousness. How can you today become more aligned with nature? It’s such a loaded question. Of course it can be ‘eat seasonal vegetables’ or ‘walk outside’. But what about these questions..
- What part of my evolution am I attempting to keep inside?
- What am I prepared to lose so that I can re-grow what?
- What am I refusing to look at as it makes me feel icky
- What’s ‘in season’ in my life that I can take advantage of right now
- What am I trying to force that’s definitely ‘out of season’
Jac x
If these kind of questions delight you, or terrify you even better – I invite you to join our Manifestation and Intention Setting Workshop this Saturday, either in person at our Paddington School or live online from anywhere in the world. Details are HERE.
This image I took yesterday in Tokyo, I love the contrast of the bare little tree with the man made formed nature of concrete.
