It's springtime, the season of new beginnings. New buds are pushing through the soil, and those bare brown branches are bursting with fresh greenery. I love this time of year.

I'm standing at my window, gazing into the garden (cloudy, mostly raining, muddy and waterlogged. Definitely not ideal for grounding barefoot), I'm still held by the quiet beauty of nature awakening. The spring bulbs that are germinating, some are already flowering, reminding me of nature's quiet resilience.

Last autumn, everything faded, it looked like the end. But the cycle of life doesn't stop with a season. What appeared dead springs forth renewed in the next. The same is true for us.

When something in our lives ends, a role, a relationship, a chapter, a version of ourselves. It often brings pain. But is the pain truly from the "death" itself, or from the breaking of emotional attachments? For me, the deepest ache comes from those broken attachments.

I see it so often in heart-centered creative leaders. Instead of allowing ourselves to fully grieve and release. We quickly find a replacement. A new project, a distraction, a "placeholder" attachment to fill the void and avoid the discomfort. We can intellectually see past the illusion, but emotionally, we're not yet ready to let go. These placeholders protect us from the raw grief... until they don't.

The longer we hold onto them, the harder it becomes to live without them. We build patterns: more placeholders, more avoidance, more burden. We cling to old, dead, unproductive "leaves and branches" that should have fallen away, blocking space for new growth. We get stuck, sometimes for months or even years. Carrying the weight of what no longer serves us, leaving little room for fresh opportunities to emerge.

So here's the gentle question for you today, fellow creative leader:

What placeholders in your life have overstayed their welcome? What old attachments, habits, or distractions are quietly preventing new things from springing forth?

As we enter a new season, spring encourages us to take a moment. Pause, contemplate, and engage in emotional spring cleaning mentally, physically, spiritually, and in our relationships. Change comes with its own timing. Clinging on hinders growth; releasing (with kindness rather than harshness) opens up space for rejuvenation.

If this strikes a chord with you, please share in the comments. What’s one “old branch” you’re realizing it’s time to release this spring?