Deep Roots

Originally published June 6, 2019

She thought it would be best if her roots ran deep. She thought it meant she was grounded — founded in heritage and legacy. She assumed that deep roots meant depth in life and relationships. They meant richness and fullness of understanding of self and the world. Deep roots make one strong and unwavering no matter the storm, she thought.

Oh! How perceived notions can be precocious, steeped in sameness, naive, and stunted!

She pushed back when life attempted to pull her, so called, “deep roots” up. She groaned with the thought of changed expectations – or, heaven forbid, claiming no expectations at all!

Self-preservation would certainly protect the essence of her deep roots, she concluded. So she built her own walls for the sake of virtue.

“These walls will never waiver,” she announced, but she left little patches to peer through for curiosities sake.

Life called. It called and it demanded. It commanded and it became an authority – unforgivingly appealing to her through the cracks in her walls. She attempted to ignore it’s insistence.

“Deep roots. Deep roots. Deep roots,” echoed in her head.

Life responded, “Go far. Go wide. Go far. Go wide.”

“Deep roots. Deep roots. Deep roots,” she shouted back.

“Go far. Go wide. Go far. Go wide,” Life softly pleaded.

They volleyed this exchange for a time.

Life was gentle but unrelinquishing, as it kept whispering, “Go far. Go wide. Go far. Go wide.”

Until, one day, they collided in a cacophony :

“Go far. Go wide”

“Deep roots. Deep roots.”

“Go far. Go wide.”

“Deep Roots! Deep Roots!”

“Go Far! Go wide!”

“DEEP ROOTS. DEEP ROOTS.”

“GO FAR. GO WIDE.”

The dissonance knocked her down, bruised her pride, bloodied her grounded-ness, and left her with walls crumbled to pieces.

She picked herself up – gathered her footing. Wiping the haze from her eyes, what she saw astounded her.

“Deep roots go far and wide.”

She looked around her again, and whispered to herself, “Deep roots go far and wide. Deep roots go far and wide.”

Life had shown up in full force. It had pressured and polished her over time. Never breaking her – only taking her through the fire to refine her.

She looked out beyond the ruins of her wall.

She saw people. People she would have never known had those roots not spread farther and wider than their depth.

She saw good – good deeds, good intentions, good changes. Good that she would have never experienced or given had those roots not spread farther and wider than their depth.

She saw growth – growth in self, growth in others, growth in her relationship with Life. Growth that would have been impossible had those roots not spread farther and wider.

She saw the beginnings of a rich and overflowing legacy –a heritage that certainly would have been missed had those roots not spread farther and wider.

In that moment, Life stepped in beside her and reassuringly said, “Deep roots go far and wide.”

“Yes. Yes,” she responded. “Deep roots go far and wide.”