The Depths of Identity

My roots began in a far-away sun drenched Continent - across lands where I was first planted - then I became unceremoniously ripped, dragged from the bowels of my beloved African heritage - whipped - replanted, bloodied - murdered.

Yet...still rising victorious...It grounds me. Propels me forward.

Defiance burning. Glowing.

Roots...branches - Metaphors of a profound and poetic lens through which we view the human journey - origins, growth, relationships, and aspirations.

Roots symbolize where we first began - lineage, culture, and the invisible threads of history that nourish us.

It speaks to our family life...love, understanding, turmoil, grief, pain, loss, misunderstandings...taking the good with the bad - remembering that no matter what---all we have is each other.

They anchor us in meaning...grounding our choices and shaping our worldview.

Our unconscious subterranean tendrils - our roots, reach into the shadowy soil of experience and trauma, often unseen...but always influencing our choices.

They remind us of our dependence on something larger - nature, nurture, love community, spirit and a yearning to belong.

To be rooted is not to be stuck...It is to be grounded enough to grow. To remember, yet find the courage to rise above...to conquer.

Branches are - The Expansion of Self and Possibility - Growth and Change. Branches stretch outward, seeking light. They represent our evolution, learning, and transformation.

Each branch may touch others - intertwining with lives, ideas, and dreams beyond our own.

They reach toward the unknown, the sky, the stars, they are symbols of imagination, ambition, and the longing to transcend.

Branches split and diverge, reflecting the many roles, identities, and paths we explore.

We are not one thing - we are a forest of selves, reaching and rooted all at once.

🌳 Together - We form A Living Tension - The tree holds a paradox: stability and movement, depth and height, past and future.

Human existence, is a dance between remembering and being that dream which began deep within the soil - growing into becoming the sacred ancient calling which holds us, and the sky that calls us.

We are wanderers, neither young nor old, just always reaching, searching - Never giving up, never accepting defeat.

🌿 There is a Dialogue of roots, branches and trunks which resides, lives and pants deep within our souls.

As wanderers, we return from time to time to commune with our roots - touching the bark - the tree speaks...not in words, but in sensations.

- Roots:

“You are many echoes. Every sorrow, every joy, every silence that shaped your soil lives here. Dig deep. Find what you buried?”

- Branches:

“You are not finished. You are reaching. Every choice, every dream, every divergence is a leaf unfurling. What light do you seek?”

- Trunk:

“You are the tension between gravity and grace. Hold both. Grow always with strength.”

With one voice they sing my African return.

I am a mirror, a well, a nest--- cradling a glowing egg - potential still being named - still evolving.