Long Live the Weeds

I was at a writing workshop today. When the instructor gave us free writing time, I put together some thoughts in reaction to a poem by Theodore Roethke, called “Long Live the Weeds.” (You can read the whole poem at http://home.comcast.net/~innaleo/Perevody/roethke_orig.html)

“Long Live the Weeds” really resonated with me. When I moved into my mobile five years ago, the gardens were a mess. They got worse as my time was spent moving in, and other necessary things. The day I went out with a couple of friends to finally get all those weeds pulled, was amazing. It felt so good to tackle a big, but uncomplicated job. No thinking, no planning – you just grabbed hold of a weed and pulled. Afterwards, after the pulling, after the hauling away, the garden looked fresh and new.

I have also pulled weeds in my own life – old situations not forgiven, old habits that were unhelpful, old beliefs that no longer served – all sorts of things. Sometimes it was hard, like the ground cover that comes back year after year, even though I’m always convinced I finally got it all this time, but it feels so good when it’s gone again. Some things had deep roots and it took a long time to dig them out. Some pulled out so easily I couldn’t figure out why I had left them there for so long.

Thank goodness for those weeds, though. Not only did they give me something to work at, a way to improve, but my life is so much freer and more open now, open in a way I never would have realized without that work. One more benefit – weeds have made me vigilant. In my physical garden, I grab those weeds as soon as their little heads peek out of the soil. I hope in my spiritual garden I am doing better attacking those things that bring me down as well. It is good physical and spiritual exercise to do this regularly and helps keep me on my toes. Yes, I do appreciate those weeds in my life, even those that keep coming back. It is definitely worth the struggle.