Until this week, vines covered my house, making it very private, shaded and green. They trailed around the deck, on the roof and around windows. Back when I planted them, I was hoping for a great shade cover, with cute leaves and tiny grapes. But now, shade trees had grown and vines were taking over, with trunks as big as my wrists, leaves and grapes everywhere, and insidious little branches growing under bricks.

I sat under old overgrown vines; they made the deck dark and confining, limiting air flow and light. Vines had outgrown our need and become invasive. Ignoring the problem wouldn’t make it disappear, so we whacked and pulled until the house was free. And suddenly, there was space and light.

Slowly and insidiously, the past, like vines, can take over, outgrowing openness and light, taking too much space, energy and time. We’re blind to how limiting it can be to be hanging to a past that no longer serves us, whether it’s expectations, collections, books, old clothes or files… It no longer provides something vital. We can allow being smothered by it, or we can reclaim space for now, with new possibilities, openness and light.

Take a moment and ask yourself what’s taking up too much space, energy or light in your life, what’s holding you back, whether junk drawers, old files or old beliefs, clothes or relationships that no longer fit.

What do you need to prune back or cut right off to make space for now? It’s your life, your choices, and you can take a step, right away. What do you choose?

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