Defined as cutting away dead or overgrown branches and stem, especially to increase fruitfulness and growth.

Removing superfluous or unwanted parts.

There are times when the noise from the TV gets to me and I need to go do yard work. Living out at the base of the Superstition Mountain surrounded by this much beauty and peace it’s easy to pretend all is wonderful in the world… but we all know better.

This morning I chose to keep the TV off. No internet news either. I have seen enough politics, car chases, robberies, crashes, shootings and more yuck.

No what I need to do is grab my wagon and tools and go prune.

The big blue sky just starting to warm up, the birds tweeting and chirping, the dogs finding things to sniff, the new morning air fresh and clean.

The first few snips my wrists feel stiff but soon I get going. I can feel the tree thanking me for clearing out its branches so it can breathe. Now it’s not sending extra valuable energy to wasted areas.

I feel the same. With every snip I feel the emotions I carry go away little by little. The pent up worries, fears, anger, all the things we hold inside now flopping onto the ground as a removed thorny branch completely unwanted.

A few more snips and I can see through the clogged branch to the next. I can get to the bad patches easier now that I’m not being overwhelmed with thorns coming from every direction.

The scrapes on my arms I don’t even feel. The tree and I are happy. We feel the freedom, that heavy weight is coming off.

There’s a scene in my all-time favorite movie “Mommie Dearest” where Joan Crawford played by the brilliant Faye Dunaway is so mad she goes and just hacks her way through her roses! Pruning gone mad! She’s in an evening gown! I eat up that scene with a spoon. I love it. I get it.

Todays need to prune didn’t stem from anger. Some days my brain just feels full. It needs to be pruned. I can’t create, enjoy or share love if I’m full. I have to empty or snip off the unneeded or unwanted.

I finish up the tree and take a step back. I don’t feel the same need inside anymore. The tree no longer needs me either. Both of us are now standing taller.