“What are you doing?” I asked.
I was only a child when my MOM began to pull all the brittle withering leaves off of the plant in my windowsill.
“Ohhhh,” she shooed me away, admonishing, “You have to take off the old dead leaves. Otherwise they drain the plant.”

Motherhood requires, among other things, an uncanny ability to Let Go of what is unnecessary in favor of that which will survive.
It is to become an expert in How to Grow.
And Growth involves letting go of superfluous ballast so that the Balloon may Lift Higher.
Mothers know this.

It was one of those simple moments as a child
That meant nothing. And everything.
(more…)