A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Adaptation and Persistence = Transformation?

When I can’t find time to sit in the park, I walk around a small section of a nearby neighborhood, changing my route to admire different parts of the neighborhood. Yesterday, as I was musing about personal transformation, I found this tree and learned something about what persistence and adaptation might look like.

This tree appears to have started growing straight up before veering towards the house. There are no signs of damage that might have made this change necessary - just a change of direction. Doesn’t this happen to us as well? As we grow, we sometimes branch off in new direction - sometimes without thinking about alternatives or consequences. Then, we discover a complication - a barrier.

Note how the tree reaches a barrier just above the doorway. It modifies it’s trajectory slightly while staying on its path. It makes a small adaptation, certainly without any reflection or consideration of options. It is, after all, a tree. Often, though, I see this same behavior in clients. When faced with an obstacle, they may make a minor modification rather than reflect on all the possibilities and implications before making a choice.

Look what happens to the tree next. It faces a larger, insurmountable obstacle and takes a more drastic shift. It still wants to grow, though, and finds a way to do this. It adapts. Clients, too, may reach an impasse. Facing a seemingly insurmountable obstacle requires deeper thinking, examining outcomes, and making an informed choice. Just as the shape of the tree changed, personal growth requires transformation.

Create some quiet space. Visualize what you most want and who you most want to be. Write about it; paint a picture; gather images to make a collage or vision board. catalogue what you have. What will you change as you transform?