Grow like Nature
A few months ago, I was asked to contribute to #rewildandslow a project by Eleanor Cheetham, the beautiful soul behind Creative Countryside. The following post is a slightly edited version of the original one featured in the project.
A recent conversation with fellow creatives and an interview question made me consider the meaning of growth. It was apt timing in January when, like me, you might be reflecting over the past year and setting intentions and thinking how you want to grow this year. We talked about how perhaps we’ve had the wrong idea about growth, similar to our perceptions of success; how the current version is unsustainable and maybe it's time to redefine what it means to grow. The conversation was mostly in relation to small business, creative endeavours and start-ups, but I think these subjects are universal and we can learn something from it.
The conventional idea of growth, mostly shaped by capitalism, is that of an upward, linear, and rather one-dimensional trajectory. But many of us can now see, after having followed this philosophy, just how unsustainable it is. So as I pondered about what growth means to me, I looked to nature for inspiration. Trees are such great metaphor for so many things. It’s amazing what we can learn from nature.
At first glance trees don’t seem that much different to the conventional perspective of growth; upward and linear, always seeking sunlight. However, that growth is directly linked to the strength of their roots. A seedling won’t reach out of the ground before it has taken root, and an indoor tree’s height and the width of its branches are limited to the size of its pot. In nature, growth is a symbiosis that begins with the roots. The roots reach down for strength, which allows the tree to grow tall and its branches to spread wide which in turn allows the roots to go deeper, spread wider, and the cycle continues.
When looking at nature, one concept is inescapable - the cyclical seasons. There is a time for growth and a time to retreat, a time of activity and a time to pause. Yet the modern world so far has been obsessed with constant growth and continual development and has encouraged a culture of more and more.
The conventional idea of growth, then, is linear and one-dimensional, and not just in the data and on the graphs; it is deeply set in our cultural phrases like ‘climbing the career ladder’ or a ‘step up’ in a job, a ‘higher position’ etc. And I would argue perhaps even deeper in our decision making processes. However, wonderful nature doesn’t work like that and I don’t think we do either. Roots and branches grow in all directions. Simultaneously. Seasonally.
For me roots represent the intra-personal matters, the inner world- spirituality, wellbeing, mental health, intuition and the connection to my tribe and myself. This is inner work that grounds and supports us. The tree represents external aspects like work, success, money, and social relationships. It is a simple yet profound understanding that our inner wellbeing is reflected in the outer world, which includes our success and growth. Investing in personal growth and wellbeing, intuition and community are just as important, perhaps even more so than strategies, plans and determination and hard work.
Linear, one-directional idea of growth has never sat well with me but I hadn’t really figured out why. Now I know. It means going deep before growing tall, strengthening roots before spreading branches, and reaching out in all directions instead of just up. Sustainable growth also requires seasons of retreat. And in those phases, it’s okay to feel no desire to grow. As spring approaches here in the northern hemisphere, we will soon begin to feel the air change and the energy of life will begin to emerge. It will remind me to grow, as nature does, roots before branches, deep, wide, in all directions, continuing the cycle.