“No tree is said can grow to heaven unless its roots reach down to hell,” CG Jung.  I found this quote roughly 2 months ago, if not longer and I’ve been holding on to it because the piece wasn’t quite coming together.  I loved it but I wasn’t sure which way I wanted to go with it.  I almost deleted it a few times thinking it wasn’t something I needed to address after all.  Each time I went to get rid of the quote, something stopped me.  Quite out of nowhere, I was listening to one of my card readings, and the man who does the readings said it.  It was in reference to building strength, walking away from what doesn’t serve and the work it takes, and allowing everything to be as it is meant to even if that means it falls apart.  When I first saw it, I initially thought it was an important reminder to accept the dark along with the light and that was referenced in the reading as well.  In order for us to find our balance, we have to connect all facets, through and through.  Coincidentally I’ve been seeing more and more works on spirituality, especially from people I didn’t anticipate, and the common thread is this type of journey: we have to face the depths of who we are and accept that in order to grow to our potential.  Strong roots weather the storm, right?

So, why do I think I’ve been sitting on this and then suddenly it becomes relevant?  This is a clear acknowledgement/nod/sign from the universe that sometimes we just have to trust.  We just have to wait and allow because the universe really does work in its own divine timing.  There is the indicator that we also have to leap, sometimes when we don’t feel ready.  There comes a time when talk isn’t enough anymore.  Planning isn’t enough.  Dreaming isn’t enough.  The universe requires action even if we aren’t fully comfortable with that yet, and right now I am in exactly that situation.  The things I’ve been wanting to do need more and more focus because they are developing—something I’ve asked for and am proud of.  Simultaneously, my current habits and life are also demanding more attention, so the separation of the two, the letting go of the past, the healing, the courage to step forward on the new path, is making it kind of feel like a band-aid about to be torn off.  I can’t continue on the same path, and the growth required means doing things I haven’t done before.  But the more I do what is unfamiliar, the stronger those roots become.  No one ever said growth was comfortable, and going through change, especially in the context of doing things we haven’t done before, is both painful and scary.  It’s painful because learning and growth sometimes hurt and it’s scary because doing new things by feel alone seems dangerous.  And sometimes the past calls us because we always have the choice to blaze forward or return to the familiar.

Everyone’s tree looks different, and everyone grows differently depending on their environment—and different people need different environments.  So in order to stretch both roots and limbs, we need to be in the best environment for us.  That means finding the best place for us even if we have to leave the familiar behind.  Transplanting ourselves is often the most crucial part—we are vulnerable as we expose both root and new growth—some people don’t survive it.  But if we do the work and tend to our needs and instincts, we can navigate through the roughest terrain, the stormiest weather, and still find that peace and that piece of the universe within in us that allows us to grow exactly where we need to be.  The timing of the universe kept this quote in my life as an encouragement through the pivotal time when I was being transplanted—the exact moment I needed to be reminded that it was time to take action because my growth is limited doing what I’m doing.  The exact moment I needed to take a leap for myself no matter what anyone else thought, the exact time I needed to be told to keep going.  Facing the things that hurt me, cutting away the dead/rotted roots, removing the dead/sick leaves is a hell we all experience—it hurts to lose pieces of ourselves.  But now I know I have been encouraged every step of the way, and this transformation is exactly what will keep the growth stable, healthy, and successful. Take the leap, especially when it seems scary—the universe will catch us.