Last year, I did Reiki for a child for the first time, and something struck me as very significant about that experience. I felt like I hardly had any layers to go through to balance and clear her chakras. It felt cleaner, simpler, easier. Before that, I didn't consciously think of it as going through layers for adults, but that experience showed me that’s exactly what it is.
For a tree, a layer is added to its trunk for every year of its life, which is why you can count the rings to determine the tree's age. Some of the rings look different and can tell a story of fire, drought, plague and plenty: “Count the dark rings, and you know the tree's age. If you study the rings, you can learn much more about the life of that tree. Many things affect the way the tree grows, and thus alter the shape, thickness, color and uniformity of the rings.” arborday.org
In so many ways, we are like trees. Every year that we're alive, growing, learning, experiencing, another layer gets added. With negative experiences, traumas, heartbreaks, a thicker layer that's different than the others is added, just like in this photo.
This year will no doubt leave a mark on most of our trunks, but we can take comfort in the fact that this is just a season, and we still have the potential to thrive.
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