The bottom tree in this photo are growing out of the side of a cliff. This is a close up of the bottom of those trees:
I realize I’m not an excellent photographer, so it may be difficult to see that the bottom of the trees literally curve into the side of the cliff…there is no ground underneath the tree–only beside the tree. I ran by this tree when I was in Wisconsin Dells this summer, and was so taken with it, I stopped and snapped a photo the next day when I drove by it.
When I was on a boat cruise the following day, the guide let us know that the ground the trees were growing out of was porous rock. The trees looked like they were barely hanging on, but actually had roots going and growing horizontally 30 feet into the side of the cliffs. They only LOOKED like they were barely hanging on–in actual fact, they were solidly rooted into the cliff. Their circumstance appeared much more precarious than it was.
I couldn’t help but think about clients (and at times in my life, myself) in difficult circumstances, feeling like I was hanging onto life by fingernails. The challenges, whether they be external circumstances such as loss of a home, death of a marriage, job loss, death of a spouse/child/parent or internal pain of depression and anxiety (or often, multiple aspects of both) seem too much. Insanity/”losing it”/”going crazy”/death all seem imminent and/or inevitable.
But even after the roughest week yet, somehow they manage, and crawl into the office to proclaim that despair was close but didn’t occur. And somehow, they show up the next week, still in rough shape, but almost imperceptibly, moving forward.
It amazes me that so often, people, in the midst of the most trying and difficult circumstances, prevail and demonstrate resilience that could not have been predicted. Roots that are not noticed, but have been built up over years–friends, internal strength of values, commitments to others, supportive communities silently but strongly bind the struggler to the side of the cliff.
The ravaged don’t fall off the edge of the cliff, because the hidden structures built up over a lifetime hold the person in the midst of struggles which, on the surface, seem insurmountable. They might be overwhelming, but for the deep deep roots that play a role which surprises and reassures.
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