Hello, hello freethinker!

Today, I am writing to you from my dining room table. It is a beautiful sunny day outside, though it’s a quirky Monday morning as we are having our internet replaced due to connectivity issues. With this in mind, a service person is entering and exiting the house and walking around on the roof at various intervals. I’m utilizing my phone wifi, my husband is working at the dining table with me, and the dog is shut in the bedroom to help keep him from disrupting the internet service person. Despite the disruptions and shift in routine, my internal state is relatively calm, though I am feeling some leftover emotions of curiosity and sadness from my dreams last night, which ended in a strange way. To ground myself, along with noticing my surroundings and inner landscape, I ate a filling breakfast, sat in the sunshine while drinking my morning matcha, and journaled through my dreams and emotions.

Just as I am taking a moment to pause and notice my inner and outer worlds, I encourage you to do the same. Noticing the colors around you, the sounds, the textures. Then, shift your awareness inward to your inner landscape. Noticing any emotions, thoughts, or sensations you may be experiencing. Not judging or labeling anything you’re finding. Instead, simply notice, witness, and allow all parts of yourself and your experience to the table. This is a practice of personal freedom that you can utilize at any time.

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Today, I am exploring the freedom beyond hiding yourself by offering the symbol of the tree.

As I begin, please remember that working with symbols is largely subjective. I will be sharing some known collective interpretations of trees as a symbol as well as my own personal associations. However, I encourage you to notice what trees mean to you. 

Symbols, like dreams, can hold projections from one’s inner world. The personal connotations a symbol holds mirror your unconscious mind. So you may resonate with certain aspects, qualities, or experiences at a deep core level. This resonance allows you to see yourself in new ways resulting in the ability to engage with your present reality from a new perspective. 

First, let’s look at general interpretations of trees as symbols and how these relate to the freedom beyond hiding yourself, which is claiming your wholeness. 

You are enough, all parts of you are welcome, and you are already whole.

One of my favorite symbol books, The Book of Symbols, states that “The tree shows us how, from a tiny bare seed of potential, the self can come into existence, centered and contained, around which occur incessant processes of metabolism, multiplying, perishing and self-renewal . . . the tree knows how to find nourishment even in the dead stuff.” – The Book Of Symbols Page 128

Trees begin as tiny sparks of life that grow and expand outward in beautiful, complex, and already complete ways. Additionally, trees innately know how to navigate death, rebirth, and external circumstances that cause a shift in their growth. 

The image that comes to mind here is when a tree grows in an unlikely place, shaping its trunk around objects and finding ways to thrive despite the elements. 

Similarly, you enter the world as a tiny spark of life that grows and expands outward in beautiful, complex, and already complete ways. As you develop and navigate your external world, you face hardship, dominant dogma, and loss, and yet you find ways to survive and, ideally, thrive. 

Although this process feels like a beautiful mirror, a difference includes how trees do not hide parts of themselves for the sake of other trees, they do not judge themselves, nor do they question their goodness.

They simply are.

Let’s get more specific on how the elements of this symbol can help you step beyond the Dominant Dogma of hiding parts of yourself to instead claim your wholeness.

Three Ways Trees Help You Claim Your Wholeness

The symbol of a tree can be a powerful reminder to accept all parts of yourself, just as a tree accepts all of its parts – the roots, trunk, and branches. Within A Dictionary of Symbols, it states, “The tree, with its roots underground and its branches rising to the sky, symbolizes an upward trend…which stands for the general relationship between the “three worlds.” More simply put, the symbol of a tree reveals how to embrace wholeness between all parts of oneself, even those parts that have been deemed unpresentable.

1. Claim Your Roots: The roots of a tree anchor it firmly to the ground and nourish it. Similarly, your roots represent the fundamental aspects of your personality, your shadow self, your past experiences, and your ancestral influences (source). Claiming your roots means embracing these parts of yourself, acknowledging their validity, and honoring how they have contributed to your human experience and ongoing development.
   
2. Claim Your Trunk: The trunk of a tree represents its strength and outward expression. Just as a tree’s trunk supports its branches and leaves, your inner strength and ego support your external expression in the world (source). Claiming your trunk means recognizing your place in the world, your validity, strength, and resilience, even in the face of challenges.
   
3. Claim Your Branches: The branches of a tree reach out in all directions, utilizing their unique expression to engage in the world. Similarly, your branches represent your outer world, your relationships with others, and the many facets of yourself that you choose to develop in life (source). Claiming your branches means acknowledging the ways you choose to engage in the world, how you impact others, and the value of those encounters.

Overall, the symbol of a tree can remind you that accepting all parts of yourself is essential for your own growth and well-being. By embracing your roots, trunk, and branches, you can cultivate self-acceptance and claim wholeness amidst the Dominant Dogma of your world.

And that is where I am going to leave you today. While I offered three ways that the symbol of a tree can help you claim your wholeness, I encourage you to notice what is present for you with this symbol. 

Notice for yourself: What do trees mean to you? What do the three elements, the roots, trunk, and branches, mean to you? What parts of you feel connected to these three elements? What would it look like to claim and own these parts of yourself? 

This type of practice can feel elusive, intense, and confusing, so I encourage you to drink lots of water, move your energy around however you prefer, and email me how this lands for you! My email is megan@megscolleen.com, and I would absolutely love to hear from you.

Additionally, if deep in your spirit, you want to claim personal freedom, I would LOVE to work with you! My goal is to help you integrate the parts of you feeling afraid and unsupported, hand back the outdated cultural stories, and guide you to rise as the deeply, wildly, and holistically free human you already are. If this resonates and you want to work with me as your coach, your next step is to book a FREE Clarity Call with me! Head to megscolleen.com now to schedule your call!

I’ll see you in a couple of weeks: Freedom is yours, 

Megan