roots

I don’t claim to have a green thumb or to even know much about plants. Yet for some reason an image rooted itself in my mind the other day as I was walking through town with my friend. Strange in that I haven’t see a whole lot of plantlife in awhile as well, so perhaps that is why it is so vivid in my mind.
I have been thinking about why it is difficult to change scenes, to move yourself from one setting to another when you have made that place your home. The longer we are in one place the more we grow accustomed to the soil and the overall milieu, adjusting in the right places so that we can live as comfortably as we can. With time we set roots in the soil so that we can take from the nutrients offered and begin the growth process. It is slow going but with time our roots go deeper, they thicken and expand, perhaps a parallel of what happens with the branches above the soil. We know how much water and sunshine to expect, how harsh the conditions of the weather are and everything else necessary to survive.
When it comes time to move we have to dig up the roots so that we can be moved from one soil to another. In this process the thicker roots remain intact, yet the frail and thin extensions of the smaller roots are usually broken and are left behind. No matter how careful, roots are ripped and torn, but what is important that enough is there that the plant can continue to glean nutrients.
When we move, if we have grown roots deep enough in a place, a part of us is left behind, no matter how well we say goodbye. We can do what we may to avoid any pain, but the truth is that some relationships and connections are fragile. A part of you will always remain where you left off. Some of us choose to amplify the pain and not trust that it is worth growing those smaller, more breakable roots in the new soil, knowing that the main roots are enough for us to live on. The fact is that we get less nutrients this way and are less intertwined with the soil. When it comes time to move again we remember that we didn’t grow those smaller roots so we just yank the plant out without digging up the roots because the strongest ones are thick enough to not be damaged. In reality, each time we do this even the thicker roots receive enough wear in tear that over time they begin to break down.