How can we expect to thrive as women in a world where our basic needs aren’t even met? It’s time to go back to the foundation… and lay down new roots. Words: Emine Kali Rushton
Returning home after a few days away, I complete my usual survey of the cottage. Once the kids have been kissed and held, their experiences poured out into my lap like marbles, I check in on our plants. Most are happy and blooming, except for Baby Spidey. It’s a descendant of our very first mama spider plant, saved from the clearance corner more than 10 years ago. Though Baby Spidey had taken quickly – growing rapidly, in her favourite half-sun-half-shade spot – I’d mistakenly assumed that her verdant leaves meant all was well, until I lifted the pot and saw that she was completely root-bound. In the space of just a week, those lush striped fronds were wilting – she’d reached a point where no amount of food, water or light could replenish her, because wellbeing her root system had outgrown its container.
Cutting the pot away, freeing her roots as gently as I could, I packed new earth into a much larger pot, made a small well and placed her within it. As I watered her in, tears fell.
Root-bound
How many of us, I wonder, feel root-bound at times? On paper, we’re getting the (bare) essentials: sleep, water, food, but our capacity for true growth – to FLOURISH – is hindered. By the walls and burdens and obstacles and barriers that prevent us from spreading our wings and flying free.
