Boundaries can be misleading.
Sometimes they are for one's safety and other times they are for someone's comfort. Property lines and fences make good neighbors say some, and nations pride themselves in the defense of theirs.
From the time we are born, we are told who we are and what we should be doing. We are taught to measure ourselves by the standards of society, to grow at the timeline of culture, and to succeed by the goals of popular opinion.
End the end, everything has a place and that place has been defined for us by others. To break away from this idea, to be free means to buck the system that keeps us alive, gives us food, and establishes our credibility.
Yet, it would be worth the experiment to consider every place and idea that we hold, secure its root, and give a little tug. If it moves, pull some more, and we might find that it's not so rooted after all... we do have the option of relocating.
There are occasions when we can't get away from these things, and in a sense, we will never be completely free. For many of us, however, we are tethered so deeply into a system that is not for us that we don't even know it. (I feel a Matrix quote in here someplace)
In these moments, it's often that we find ourselves falling out of the boundaries rather than choosing to uproot and relocate.
Much like this little flower that I saw this week. While my picture didn't capture the clarity of the little white flower, the main pot was full of a bound plant in another pot. Yet, this little white flower had fallen free and stood out. It could move, shine, and grow, even amid a concrete sidewalk.
In time, if allowed to remain, that little flower will begin to break the concrete away and thrive, grow, and multiply.
So, for what it's worth, think about your boundaries. Are you bound at the root? Are you in a pot that someone else places? Are you stuck?
The answers to these questions are not easy to discover and becoming free isn't something that happens quickly. But eventually, even if we just drop off the side of the planter, we can find a place to root elsewhere.
Where would you be if you could be? Let's talk about that.
I know a gardener or two that may help us get our roots loose...
A few loose thoughts kept me in this mindset all week. We’ve been busy for six days celebrating and assisting with the birth of my second grandchild. So, I had little time to engage this idea beyond the short stub you see and the three points below. Maybe I will write more in time.
Being tethered to the ideas of others can create a false sense of peace, safety, and good.
Stepping over the edge is often the place where life begins, not where it ends.
Even scriptures say that until something falls to the Earth and dies it cannot live, sprout, grow…
“Stepping over the edge is often the place where life begins, not where it ends.” 100%. Wouldn’t have made sense to stay within the warmth and comfort of the womb forever.
For sure!