The fig tree that taunts the protagonist in Sylvia Plath’s, The Bell Jar, is a widely recognized, read and analyzed passage. It’s iconic, really (ignoring the fact it’s always taken completely out of the context of the story). 

However, let’s imagine us coming back to that fig tree at a point in our lives when we’ve made our choices. 

Look at all the figs that have fallen to the ground.

Lives that could have been. 

Pasts that can no longer be reclaimed. 

We can look at all of them with regret, making futile attempts to pick them up and have a bite as they rot away. Or we can mourn them. 

Start the grieving process in order to move on.

Because we’re here and there are other trees to eat from in the garden of our lives.