Some people put down roots and never budge. Others thrive when they are transplanted. Whichever you are, you need to nurture your roots
Bloom where you are planted
Wherever you find yourself, it is a gift. Even if it is a rough patch, the lessons you will receive are a gift that will strengthen you. Sometimes our childhoods were supportive, sometimes they were not. Sometimes our relationships were nurturing, other times they were best left behind. You have a choice. If you can’t bloom where you are planted, then arranged to be transplanted.
What are the qualities you want to in your life?
Before you settle in, give some thoughts to who you want to be. What qualities do you want to have? What good do you want to do? Those decisions help you decide where to put your roots. As a young woman, I was lonely in the mid-west.. I developed my holistic experience in New York City and my spiritual expansion in California. I needed to be in each of these places in order to develop the qualities I yearned to express. Now I am tucked safely in the mid-west, and because of that very safety, I can reach out across the world. What qualities do you need in your life and where do you need in order to develop them? Put down roots in places that nurture you.
Understand your level of adventure
Some people need to explore. Others much prefer to nestle into a safe, caring environment. Some people need a mixture. Know what you need and honor that. If you are a nester, nest. If you are an explorer, grab your backpack.
Don’t let fear or uncertainly keep you stuck
In your search for security, don’t let fear keep you stuck. At 18, I got on a train in Kansas City heading for my freshman year at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia. There were other young girls traveling on that train who were going there or to other schools in the East. It was the first time I slept on a train. It was the first time away from home, but I felt no apprehension. I was going on an adventure and I loved it. I never looked back. I never again felt the need to be a dependent child of my parents (even though they paid the tuition). If I had been apprehensive about going away, it would have been fine if I simply stayed home and went to a nearby college. But I went away and that choice made a difference in my life.
Take your adventure as far as you can
Plant your roots, nurture that stage of your growth, then take inventory and see what you need next. There are natural stages: the end of high school demands a choice of whether to continue your education or enter the work force. Marriage is a major adventure. Having children is a huge responsibility that lasts the rest of your life. Each stage is a new cycle, a new opportunity to deepen your roots or transplant your roots to another setting.
Where your roots can take you
He is planted in his own integrity, and there he stands,
gnarled and knotted, perfectly at ease with himself,
his roots deep in truth, his branches held up to let the light in.
-Stephen Mitchell, Second Book of Tao
I hope that’s where my life has led me. My truth has shifted over the years. It has become more inclusive, it is more spiritually aware. My roots have been transplanted and with each move, I grew stronger. Now I am pulling on that strength to make the most of this stage of my life. Now, at 82, I’m reaping the fruit of my life. It’s an amazing feeling. And it’s a bountiful harvest.
How do you nurture your roots? Do you need to be transplanted or are you where you need to be?
TO SING A DEEPER SONG CONSIDER:
How to Creative Fertile Field for Positive Change
