ROOTS

December 14th, 2018

We’ve all seen a thousand different trees and we’ve all seen a thousand different people.  Many trees might look the same, but even those of the same species differ in radical ways.  While above trees of a species may look extremely similar, and we may pick apart individual differences, we might for a moment reflect on the chaotic array of roots below the ground.

We can all picture a tree that has fallen over, the whole root structure, like a woven pancake peeled from the forest floor.

The roots of trees seem just as chaotic as the trunks and branches above seem similar.

We might pause for a moment and think about how that whole root structure grows.  How each root decides in which direction to go.  Presumably each root is stretching and straining to gain ground in a way that will benefit the tree the most.

Trees and all rooted plants are very different from humans in this respect.  As humans, we all have a pretty standard body in which we fulfill.  But the bodies of trees and plants have a kind of algorithm by which they grow, which does not limit them to one specific shape.  Their bodies grow based on the conditions of their environment.  If they find themselves existing on a small patch of soil on top of a rock, they will reach roots far off and around that rock, or burrow into cracks in the rock and split it.

Our bodies do not have anything near this kind of morphology, but our mind does.  Depending on our environment, we can adapt, change the way we think and grow in a new direction.

And in order to find that direction, often we grow in many directions, pivoting, twisting and turning to find a way to function in life.

If you feel aimless, reflect on the chaos of the forest floor, and then look up to see what heights such chaotic directions achieve.