ROOTS AND WINGS
For our life we need both, our soaring dreams and wishes, as much as a stable and solid home with order and clear rules.
Our roots give us strength and security.
Our wings provide us with joy and inspiration.
All our life we are balancing
those two.
I think it was in Paolo Coelho’s novel, The Zahir, where I came across the combination of words roots and wings. I remember these words being taken from an Arabic quote but don’t recall exactly which one. But I do remember well how strongly I felt them. I understand the words as a flawless principle that I can use to keep my own life and relationships peaceful and balanced. I have a happy family, a house on a beautiful place, simply home. It was a goal we had worked towards for a long time. Now it became the milestone and we can move on. I am lucky enough to be able to realize the incredible source of energy that Home and Family provide for one. Family is a magnificent net that connects all the roots together. It fills us with joy and happiness. That all provided that the family is treated with care and love. But if you don’t allow yourself a bit of a mental distance, the roots will absorb and suppress you. The boundary between happiness and suppression is thin. We all occasionally need to fly, dream about crazy ideas and freedom. There are lots of know stories where the longing for denied wings led to a break up. Man or woman slams the door and leaves. They flee to gain their freedom just to find out how much they miss the magic source of energy called Family. “What do you think about it? Were the people from the story suppressed by by the roots? Have they not manage to treat themselves to a voyage within the family life? Why do so many partners break up? “ It might be that they can’t awake the real man or woman in themselves and therefor they leave to find them somewhere else. Does the topic seem to be suitable more for grown ups then for kids? I don’t think so! Ourselves we set up the patterns for our children to follow.
Recently, I read this quote by J.W. Goethe: “Children should receive from parents two things. Roots and wings. Roots protruding into past and wings, freedom and liberty leading towards responsible future.” It is a principle that fills out our lives. The knowledge that we are the rooted members of a family and society but the same time we have winged lives, is the best we can hand to our children. The meaning of these two words might change in minds of different people but for me and Tomas these are journeys to close and remote unknown places. From the unknown places we can observe our roots from a better perspective. Our travels as well as the short time separations are, in my opinion, the best investments into the strength of our family roots.
May you find your own significance of roots and wings!
Good luck!
Lucie
The picture was drawn for a set of inspirational pictures made for the young and for the old called “The journey to self “
Tags: inspiration, Journey to Self