roots.

Last night we hosted a dinner party of ten friends who all sat by the cozy fire sipping wine and sharing apple cobbler.  The feast of brushetta, hummus on walnut bread, shrimp alfredo and colorful salad (dreamt up earlier that morning at the Broadway farmer's market) was unabashedly devoured and so the attention was quickly drawn to the blazing fire and surrounding couches. As we settled in, conversation traveled sporadically between two people, and three people, until the mood grew evermore serious and the party converged on the topic of human development.

This is what I gathered:


         Each soul is a seed.  It lands in a place not of its choosing.  Slowly, it sends out tiny roots.  These roots are the places that we live, or visit, that have lasting impacts on our lives.  Each root taps into a source of nutrients that is sent back to the seed so that it can begin to grow strong.  In our lives, these nutrients are different things that inspire us from these particular places; things that we learn from, for example; music, beliefs, cultures, colors, nature, patterns, people. The more nutrients we gather from one particular root, the stronger that root becomes and the more able it is to support us as we grow. Eventually we've set out enough roots to support the upward growth of a tiny tree. This tree develops in a different realm than its roots (above ground rather than below) but it couldn't mature without support of its subsurface counterparts.  One day, after the tree has grown as tall as it can with the support it has received, it flowers!  Blossoms explode in hilarious hues and this is the moment that we can publicly celebrate the beauty and meaning we've found in life.

Very insightful, Dennis Quaid!

my roots

cambria

seattle

kodiak

peru