From the day they are born, our journey becomes about balancing between holding them and letting go, teaching them and allowing them to experience, showing them and standing back for their light to show them the way.
My girls have been gone for a year, and still at times I find it raw, empty and lonely. But in this past year I have learned that it is not the empty nest that is the issue, it’s the empty vessel within that is. It is the piece of me that mothered unconditionally that now finds itself grasping for footing. It has taken me a year to turn that mothering energy inward. And as I start to do so, what I find has been at times surprising, confusing, and not completely what I expected.
The answers haven’t come all at once. Sometimes I wonder if they’ll come at all. But there has been much beauty in this time as well. There is the sheer joy of watching my girls flourish – the pride in who they have become, the power of their convictions, and the strength of their character. I find myself learning about the world and myself from their wisdom and experience. I am watching and I am listening.
Amidst all of this introspection, last week my jade plant shifted dramatically. Within just a day or two, the strong branches that stood straight up with purpose, started to sway, to bend, to relax, and to sprout new growth. At first I feared weakness, but that was quickly replaced by even greater strength – the kind of strength that comes from growing bigger leaves, being flexible and open to change, and the possibility of something greater. I did not cultivate this intentionally, but my vessel is following its lead.
There was a time when I wanted, needed, to know where I was headed. Today, I am following the lead of my children and this wise old jade plant and simply seeing what takes shape. Perhaps that is the gift of the empty nest after all.
Eat clean live well,
