Spend any time on social media during winter and you'll see every man and his dog use the analogy of a deciduous tree shedding its leaves as a "powerful lesson" in learning to let go. S'kinda a good analogy, I guess, but it's not particularly meaningful until you consider the practical process the tree is going through.
Because the tree is not 'doing' anything. The tree is not choosing to shed its leaves in a way that we would understand, because it is an innate process - just like how we don't choose to breath (until we really choose to choose to breathe e.g. when we catch ourselves holding our breath). The tree is not 'learning' or 'teaching' anything about letting go, because those are human interpretations and the tree it is not experiencing the world as we, as humans, do. Instead, the tree is 'doing' what it has been designed/evolved to do; a simple process of survival, & ultimately an attempt at thriving.
Framing other species' experiences through human eyes is anthropomorphism (the attribution of human characteristics or behaviour to an animal, object, non-human) and centres the human experience, which can suggest some sort of hierarchy where we're the centre of attention and everything else in the world is just a reflection of our own stuff. Kinda can't really help doing that (because we are subjects, we are conscious, we are only seeing the world through our experience, and the whole 'the world as reflection' thing is a thread in many spiritual paradigms) but there's a lot of juice in doing something different when it comes to our metaphors.
So what would it be like to see from the 'eyes' of a deciduous tree? A horse chestnut tree perhaps? And in this, to respectfully borrow a naming from Indigenous practices across the globe, to see from Horse Chestnut (as an archetypal rather than a specific entity)?
This exercise is one I've used in the past in workshops, bringing in some embodied practice and inviting participants to move in relation to, or even 'as if they were', a non-human entity. It's not about mimicking the entity's shape or movement but truly feeling into what their experience is like. Of course there's no way of knowing this, really, or getting it 'right', but that's not the point.
The point is to remove your self from the equation + get out of your own, limited consciousness. To try, as best you can, to see the world fresh through an energy that is not yours. Because yours might be stagnant, stale, keeping you stuck. Why do you think everyone is using that shedding-leaves-lesson anyway? Because they are stuck in a pattern of holding on, staying attached to something that is no longer theirs to be with, and they need a different perspective to help them let go.
Rather than perceive the tree as 'choosing' to let go, or 'teaching' you to let go, it might actually be more beneficial and a lot easier for your own process if you truly witnessed Tree for what it is: it is being, deeply and unequivocally, in a way that transcends/undercuts the egoic, working mind. It is not letting go because the leaves are 'bad' or 'not serving them'. It is shedding leaves because it was born to shed leaves, just as it was born to grow, blossom, seed, mature, die & create mulch for the next seedlings. It's not complicated. It just is.
What helps us remember the is-ness of things? To remember to be, rather than do? Answers on a postcard please. There is no single answer, no one-and-done metaphor or book or event that will take you from Doing to Being lickety-split. It is a practice (something I also repeatedly say in every single one of my workshops/courses etc). It is every day, every moment, Being not Doing. Because one of the gifts of our species is our extraordinary ability to choose with great deliberation. We aren't shackled to repeating the same patterns over and over. We aren't stuck in just trying to survive. We get to choose to Be in each moment.
I'll end this reflection with a couple of suggestions. First, stop using lazy metaphors. Other species are not humans-with-leaves or humans-with-hooves. They are real + experiencing in a unique way. Use that recognition to remove yourself from your own limited consciousness.
Second, give yourself some grace. Practising Being during a festive season of intense Doing (buying! hosting! decorating!) is very challenging - but it is possible. I've just rebooted my audio output with a Christmas mini-series on Spotify to help you stay in the present & solve some of the common problems that arise at this time of year. Listen along here.
Finally, allow yourself support. No-one is meant to travel alone on this journey from Doing to Being (even though it is a solo experience). Cultivating a daily practice is not easy, but it -is- easier when you have a little nudge to keep you on track. I invite you to join my membership which sends you daily messages to help you stay present as you create your own metaphysical practice of Being - enrolment is open til 13 December, costs £33, & you can join by clicking the button below.
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