New Beginnings

I spent much of the last 2 months looking for a purpose. A lot of time was spent doubting, a lot of time spent hoping, and an inordinate amount of time was spent applying for jobs. It's funny how things work sometimes, and how the perfect opportunity can present itself.

There is an insane amount of change happening in my family at the moment. I am moving to Chicago to start a new job. My brother and his girlfriend will be moving back up to Northern Michigan University to start their second year of school. My youngest brother will be moving to Croatia to begin a year of exploration and travel and incredible experiences (soooo jealous). My parents will be at home in their clean house, missing their children and waiting for grandbabies. Things are moving quickly and it's all a bit overwhelming and frightening, and I realized last week that those things that keep us grounded, our "roots," are incredibly vital.

I spent two days with my very own Christy last week. She had been interning on a farm in central Indiana, learning about organic farming and sustainable growth and just how sore you can be after planting tomato plants for an entire day. She wrapped up her time there when I was visiting, and I got to watch her. I got to watch her in her element, in the place she fell in love with, in the place where she grew in so many ways. One of her final tasks was to give a presentation, and she chose to speak about Shade-Grown Coffee. (Yes, I listened!)

One of the things she talked about struck me, and I felt it seep into my consciousness and infect all of my thoughts about life. She talked about roots- the lifeblood of the plant, how they hold it to the ground and provide nourishment and a network of support. One thing she specifically talked about were lateral roots, and how they provide benefits in places where it isn't easy to have deep roots.

I think as humans (and perhaps people living in smaller communities), we tend to speak about "deep" roots. Roots that go straight down into the ground for immense distances... and in the case of people, time. Families that have lived in an area for generations, having a "deeply rooted" stake in the community- it it spoken of or thought about often.

My family doesn't have that. My parents were newcomers to my hometown, and we are all leaving. We are going abroad and up north and to the big city. We are putting down roots in communities that are not our own, places where we cannot "root deep."

However, it is my hope and prayer that our lateral roots will keep the family strong. We all remain tied to each other in a way that is simply impossible to escape, even if we were to try. For a while I was worried about starting a new life, losing my brothers to the world around us, missing my family. I've begun to realize that deeply planted roots aren't the only kind there are, and our lateral ones will provide just as much nourishment and support and strength as we need.