Staying Rooted

Yes, I am quite aware that “staying rooted” seems like an odd follow up to my last post “chasing dreams” - almost paradoxical, seemingly opposite. In thinking this through however, I am becoming more convinced of the close relationship between the two. One seems free spirited and the other “stuck in its ways,” but let’s dig (pun intended) a little deeper.

I have recently had some enormous gusts blow though my life … those proverbial winds of change, winds of family members’ illnesses and aging, winds of busyness and ensuing fatigue, winds of discouragement. As I reflected on the gales that are currently (nice pun!) blowing all around me, I realized that none are helping me to run, to lift, to gain momentum, to fly, to chase my dreams, but rather they hold me down, blow me off course, and leave me squashed like a leaf on the ground beneath me.

But, it is in this supine position of imposed rest that I have begun to realize something … I had lost hold of some of the things most important to me; things that have laid the groundwork for a life of creativity - my roots! The roots of needing to express myself in writing, song, poetry; of simply having the time to dream. As these most basic underlying supports get left to dry out and wither, I find myself becoming irritable, tired, apathetic, and confused.

Roots are the very things that remind me of who I am, of what I feel called to be and to do in life - with my time, with my energy. And it is only when I am aware of these roots, and feel the familiar earth between my toes, that I can begin to stretch up, to reach out, to chase my dreams and maybe even one day, to fly! 

How do roots keep you connected to what is important in life? What are some of your roots? Do they help you in dream chasing?

 

 

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