Shedding Who We Were

Michal Arbel / translated by Jill Yonassi

A naked tree in winter

has shed all of its old leaves,

exposed,

open to the sunlight and the rain

for new foliage and growth.

~~~

Shedding our old identities,

who we thought we were.

Shedding unessential, unnecessary habits.

Shedding patterns of thought –

ideas, beliefs, opinions and conclusions.

Shedding not as a forceful act,

not as resistance,

not as an exchange of one thing for another.

Things fall off by themselves

as we suddenly become aware

of the limited nature of our thought.

How can we be renewed

without shedding the old?