inspirational, leisure

Rent Free Poem Week 2: Day 3

Posted by Sandhya on

Happy October rockstars, 

As those of you who read yesterday’s post know, it’s time for another “Rent Free Poem” Week!

Some of you might remember the first edition back in February 2024 (posts linked at the bottom). That was right before Tay’s TTPD dropped. And funny enough her newest album, Life of a Showgirl, comes out this Friday. I guess I’m more aligned with Taylor than I thought… though let’s be real, her productivity is goals.

What is Rent Free Poem Week?

So what is rent free poem week? Every day for a week, I pick a poem that’s been living rent-free in my head since I read it, and I write about it. For this, I have to channel all my 10th-grade English reading comprehension skills, but sadly there are no SparkNotes for these poems. So here is me, taking my shallow take on deep poems and hoping I can half-as-eloquently describe how these beautiful pieces of writing made me feel. 

A caveat about Day 3… I don’t actually think this is a poem, but it’s something that’s been rent-free in my brain since I read it. And I guess that’s the whole reason I’m writing these posts anyway and it’s basically the same thing.

Here’s Week 2; Day 3:

Trees are Strongest in Autumn

Trees are actually at their strongest in autumn. They aren’t using their energy to create new leaves or bear fruit. So their roots get stronger. They look like they’re withering and dying as their leaves become crisp and fall to the earth. But they’re becoming more resilient. They’re not dying, they’re becoming more powerful, more grounded and harder to shake

The last couple days I’ve been going on walks in Kentlands, which is a neighborhood approximately 10 minutes from my parents’ house. Back in high school, my friends and I would go to Kentlands to go to the movie theater, to go to the iconic crepe place in the area, and to get sushi. After high school, the Starbucks in Kentlands became my favorite to go to in Fall because the barista would know the second I walked in, that my drink was the Pumpkin Chai. So often times my drink would be ready while I was still waiting to order. It was quite the efficient system. And now my trips to Kentlands are to the Arts Barn (that hosts weekly watercolor classes), walks around the lake and in the neighborhood, and spending too much money in Whole Foods to get flowers and feel like a RomCom character, and romantically walking down the aisles in Michaels craft store.

Yesterday I went on a walk in Kentlands by myself to get some steps in and to be one with Nature. With every step I remembered this quote, that trees are the strongest in Autumn. As my shoes crushed the crispy, brown leaves on the sidewalk, I looked up at the trees. They did look stronger.

Growing up I always used to worry about trees in the Fall/Winter. Not because they didn’t look strong but that I was convinced the trees were cold. Often when it would snow, there would be a nice, picturesque view outside my room of trees and branches covered with a thick, white layer of snow. As beautiful as it was, it also worried me whether the trees could take it.

“Trees are resilient,” I remember my parents telling me. And they really are.

What looks like decay or retreat is actually growth – and there’s something incredibly comforting around this idea. Maybe when we look (or feel) like we’re falling behind, slowing down, or losing momentum, we are just preparing for the next phase of our life.

Two days ago I talked about Fall as “new beginnings,” but we live in a society that celebrates rapid growth, blossoming, constant productivity. We start measuring our growth with our career, and our success with our billables and realization rates.

But what happens when we enter a season that doesn’t look like growth on the outside? What happens when we enter a reason where things are falling away; opportunities, energy, relationships, even a sense of clarity or purpose?

Naturally, we panic. We fear we’re failing or falling apart. Maybe we take longer to do things that used to be quick for us. Maybe our “best” looks different now than it does when we’re more polished.

But maybe, like the trees in autumn, we’re actually becoming stronger at the roots.

When life forces us to slow down, whether it is by choice or by circumstance, I know that I feel uncomfortable. But maybe this an invitation not turn inward, to reflect, rest, and redirect energy into deep, unseen work. It may not be the most glamorous of work, and we may not feel put together, but it’s necessary. And just like the trees pull their energy back from the branches and down into the roots, maybe we too need to use these periods to become more grounded and reconnect with what matters.

We strengthen our sense of self and we let go of what no longer serves us.

Maybe it means that our dreams are shifting. Maybe identities, or molds that people had of us, are starting to dissolve. But maybe it’s wisdom, and the universe’s way of preparing us for what comes next.

And maybe you’re in an “Autumn” in your own life. But don’t be afraid – you’re rooting deeper. And while the surface may seem still, there is strength building underneath. You are becoming more of who you are meant to be. And when the next season or phase of your life comes, you’ll be more grounded, more rooted, ready, and harder to shake.

Past Rent-Free Poems: 

Until next time!

xo

Sandhya

If you would like to celebrate my 30th year around the sun with me, then please click the follow or subscribe button! Feel free to connect with me through this platform, twitter, my coffee and checkins Instagram, my podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or Amazon Music, or email me at coffeeandcheckins@gmail.com! If you have any suggestions for topics or anything you’d like me to write/speak about, please let me know🙂❤

2 Comments Add yours

  1. Pingback: Rent Free Poem Week 2: Day 5 – Coffee and Check-Ins
  2. Pingback: Rent Free Poem Week 2: Day 4 – Coffee and Check-Ins

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