Falling Apart

I feel like I've written this thought down more than once, but the most memorable was July 8, 2016 and rather than making it up again I'm just going to copy that version here.

Do you ever wonder what it would be like to be a tree in the fall? At first you're standing there full of a summer's worth of leafy accomplishments, and you're pretty proud of yourself. Then everything starts changing. The changes are so colorful and fun, until they begin falling off. One at a time all your beautiful leaves drop to the ground. It's a little disconcerting but you feel like you have time to mourn each loss as it comes. As fall progresses, the wind gets colder and harsher and your leaves are falling faster than you can consider them. It's terrifying and painful until you just grow numb to it. Next thing you know, you're standing there naked and vulnerable. Alone. The good thing about fall is that it can only go so far, once you're stripped bare, there's nothing left to take away, the fall has to end. Winter had to come, a season of peace and rest. Of course, winter also has it's downsides, but it too must come to an end. And then comes spring. Hope. New life. Leaves begin to grow in all the old places and in some new ones as the lessons from fall and winter become a part of you.

I spend possibly too much time thinking about random things. But every time it feels like everything is falling apart and/or I'm losing more than I thought I had, I think of trees. I long for rest. And I start hoping for spring.