THE VIOLENCE OF GROWTH
A lot of people have been talking about the year of the snake: shedding the old, embracing the new blah blah blah.
But what comes to mind when I think of snakes, and new growth… is violence.
No matter where you look in nature, growth and evolution almost always have an element of violence.
Imagine a teething baby… shards of bone splitting through gums. 🦷
Or a seed sprouting… the new plant erupting underground. 🌱
Or a mountain range being formed… volcanic eruptions, or tectonic plates colliding. 🌋
Or a caterpillar becoming a butterfly… you know they turn to goo first, right?! 🦋
Growth isn’t exactly peaceful business.
When I was 16, I had a pet tarantula that I kept in a large terrarium, and I would feed her those tiny pink baby mice.
One day, I went to go feed her when I saw what appeared to be her carcass, belly-up. After what felt like a minor heart attack, I reached in and picked it up, only to find that it was a hollow exoskeleton that was split open at the top.
Upon further investigation, I found her resting inside a hollowed out log and realized she had shed the night before.
Even though this was normal and necessary, at first glance it was scary!
The same goes for snakes. 🐍
If you didn’t know what was going on when a snake was in the process of shedding, you might think it was sick, dying, or had some type of skin condition.
Our growth and evolution often feel comparably scary and painful.
The shedding process appears scary.
It feels violent and painful.
But at the same time, it’s nice having teeth instead of gumming soft foods our entire life.
At a certain point, your old ways should agitate you into shedding your skin.
Your old ways shouldn’t work, and you should expect greater from yourself.
Unless you prefer gumming applesauce forever.
Comfort is a sensation best enjoyed when you are in full congruence with God and at the peak of your highest expression…
But it should not be used to numb the call of your soul and highest purpose.
It is much better to choose the violence of growth than to sedate your potential with the comfort of your bad habits and neglected desires.