Fresh Starts

I live near a beautiful pond set in the heart of the city. There’s a walking path around it, and I’ve worn a track in the asphalt as I’ve circled it over and over again. 

Last summer my pond was sad. It looked ‘kind of’ ok – sort of an overgrown, wizened, nostalgic kind of ‘ok’, but it wasn’t well. The color of the water was a green that caught your eye but was also slightly wrong.  And the smart nature wisdom-ers knew that the pond needed to be stripped down to be able to thrive. Like a radical pruning of a beloved tree – or an overdue haircut. This time, however, of a large living pond. 

It was brave to embark on this radical transformation. There was money to be raised and lots of influencing to be done – consensus building and partnership. Followed by careful planning. Research and evidence – historic wisdom, bold new imaginings (you might begin to see how this tale relates to our conversations). A new map was made.

And then the tractors came. Purposeful excavation. Little and big machines picked up ancient trees like they were small branches. Roots got disentangled and wrenched out. Water was drained and the ground was tilled, turned, and big truckloads were removed and driven away. We watched this all from our high rise windows. Birds-eye view. It was sometimes mesmerizing and sometimes kind of heart-breaking. Were the turtles buried deep enough to survive? What would happen to the fish, the migratory birds? How could all this stripping down be respectful of all that was dependent on this ecosystem?

I leaned into trust – and chose to believe that the smart nature experts knew what they were doing. Their planfulness was evident. And their commitment to moving forward was impressive. In fact, in our current world where projects seem to advance in fits and starts with labor shortages and changing weather conditions, this crew was steadfast – eyes on the prize.

Fast forward to this recent summer and I am glad to report that there are more turtles basking on the pond’s intentionally left behind tree trunks than I’ve ever seen before. New migratory birds have shown up – craning their long necks and patiently waiting to grab a snack from the shoreline. Native flowers bloomed in profusion – a gorgeous yellow that took over the pond’s banks. And butterflies in abundance on their migratory path. Without the overgrowth, the vistas are clearer. New perspectives.  

There is such a generative, restored sense in and around this pond. It’s a felt sense of the power of a good housecleaning – stripping down old stories, patterns, projects – of life or role or business – and creating new space.  

The usefulness of this pond metaphor for your own path is yours to extrapolate. When you read this, what sparked for you? What’s useful here? And what is transferable to your own life – or ideas that are on your mind?

Please let me know 🙂 And if having a thought partner on the path feels helpful, let’s talk.