Climb to the treetop
This pen and ink drawing of my childhood home, by my talented friend Kate, gives you a glimpse of one of my favorite climbing trees! See her skillful artwork here.
When I was a little girl, I loved to climb trees. We had a tree in our front yard that had a long slanted branch that offered access to several higher branches. Another tree in the backyard wasn’t quite as climbable, but it had a nook where you could sit, lean back, and read a good book. We also shared a tree in the backyard with our neighbors, and my dad put down a sturdy piece of plywood that served as a flattop bottom of a quasi-treehouse. There were adventures to be had in the trees!
It has been a long time since I climbed a tree, but my youngest daughter also loved to climb when she was littler. As the mother in the story, I had a different perspective, since her goal was to ascend straight up to the highest point of the tree! EEK!
Jump down to the ground with me for a minute. As a therapist, I’m often helping others dig around in the roots of things. We humans often haven’t considered very deeply the impact of our earlier experiences. One of my clients put it this way—“There is so much more to that story that I realized!” This can be a very valuable process. But it can also get thrown out of balance. When I’m deeply focused on getting to the bottom of what’s wrong, I can get lost there.
One of my favorite writers, George MacDonald, paints this picture:
“We glimpse a greater life than we can feel; but no man will arrive at the peace of it by struggling with the roots of his nature to understand them, for those roots go down and out, out and down infinitely into the infinite. By acting upon what he sees and knows, hearkening to every whisper, obeying every hint of the good, following whatever seems light, man will at length arrive. Thus obedient, instead of burying himself in the darkness about its roots, he climbs to the treetop of his being; there looking out on the eternal world, he understand at least enough to give him rest.”
Now, don’t mistake me here. Understanding and processing what’s down there in the roots can be very helpful. My work involves a LOT of this, and the healing to be had is often wrapped up in the details. But the sunlight can’t always reach to the forest floor. When I’m loosing my way, this quote offers life-giving guidance. Look up! Climb up the treetop of your being! The warming rays of the sunshine, the gentle wind on your face, regaining a glimpse of where your one little tree is located in the whole of the forest— I desperately need this at times. Maybe you too?
