This leaf
is a metaphor for our own lives, is it not?
This leaf
reminds us that life is not simply about newness, freshness, or blossoming.
Life is also about decay, dotage, and atrophy. It reminds us that everything is
impermanent. Everything that is born will die.
Yet, this
simple leaf shows us that at all stages of the life-death cycle there is
beauty. Indeed, there are many cultures who consider that beauty increases with
age, and that youth are too young to have grown into beauty yet. Whatever is believed,
this leaf is a reminder that aging can be entered into with grace and beauty.
Decay too
is a beautiful process. It is the process, whether a leaf or a human being, of
giving back. The decaying process returns vital nutrients to the soil, and so
contributes to the continuation of life, and to new births.
The eco-psychologist
Bill Plotkin calls this the return to mystery. An apt naming, for we
come from mystery, and we return to mystery.
The esteemed
Catholic priest and student of earth history, Thomas Berry (who died at age 94)
called this a time of fulfillment.
So, next
time we look at a decaying leaf, or think of ourselves as slowly decaying,
think again. There is profound beauty in that process.
Whether we
be mottled and specked, and with bits missing around the edges, we are entering
the time of fulfillment, mystery, and beauty.
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