Vines Choking Your Life

I don't even know what day of quarantine I'm on at this point. But recently I spent a few hours on our property, freeing my small patch of blackberry plants along the driveway from the ever-creeping vines. While doing so, I had lots of time with my thoughts. Here are my random thoughts on how what I did in the yard is like what I do professionally.

What you may or may not know about blackberries: They grow long stems, have teeny thorns, have a shallow root system, and create yummy fruit. Those long stems break VERY easily, so many of my plants were broken halfway, still producing flowers and new leaves, even through those broken stems.

The vines: I have found at least three different types of vines in our woods. We've got the dreaded kudzu, but only in one part. Then we have two where I was working - one is spiky and mean looking. The other, the one that likes my blackberries, is a pretty reddish color with lovely delicate green leaves. However, as with all vines, they wrap around plants and choke them out. I have spent many hours over the past weeks carefully unwrapping my blackberries.

Photo by Utsman Media on Unsplash

I took a great picture that day, I thought. When I looked back I realized the background was in crisp detail -- oops. This is almost as good, haha. What I mostly wanted you to see was how they twist together.

So what does all this have to do with me and my profession?

We sometimes are just as fragile as my blackberries. We catch our thorns on items (or use them to keep people away so they don't see how delicate we think we are), break easily, and quickly get pulled out of the ground. We often so quickly give up on those things that give us life and energy and make us feel alive. It can seem like things in life get their roots in us and suck the life out of us. Sometimes people let those things take over and it kills them. And sometimes, hopefully more often than not, we use our community to pull those vines off of us so we can blossom and produce beautiful fruit.

That's what I do...I help people untangle the vines and free themselves so they can blossom. I listen for what really makes them grow and thrive. I support them in growing deeper roots than my blackberries so that they are unshakable and can weather any storm.

Time to pull the vines and grow and thrive. Share your bounty with the world.

The blackberry blossoms I freed that first day