Storms Make Trees Take Deeper Roots

After a frustrating week, creative wise, I finished this experimental piece on Friday. I'm cautiously optimistic at the results.  I want to put together a good T-shirt design and try again with Threadless. I'm having a tough time with coming up with a great look on a T-shirt with the designs. That should be the easy part. 

I am finding out more and more that the perceived "easy" things are really the hard parts, and vice versa. 

I was happy with another design that I hope to submit to Threadless, but then I took a wrong turn with color. Therefore, time to start over with that one, as there is no saving it at this point. Frustrating. 

So who said "Storms make trees take deeper roots..." ? It appears it was Dolly Parton. However, in this fast moving information age, it's easy for that to be incorrect. However, so far, it appears to be correct that Dolly Parton did indeed say it. 

It's clear that I love putting words within the artwork. Sometimes they are just random and part of the art itself. However, there is often meaning within them. Sometimes it can be a code for something more personal that I did not want to divulge publicly, but still wanted it in the artwork. Other times the meaning is pretty clear (such as the one above).  And because analogies and metaphors have always spoken to me in gaining clearer understandings (and communicate my point more effectively), messages like the above are especially inspirational and comforting. 

"Storms make trees take deeper roots" contains the clear message that adversity exists. It can make us stronger if we learn from it. Choices all have consequences.  That is how we learn. Well, it's how we're supposed to learn.  Some of us need a few extra lessons. 

Have we ever seen a baby not fall down when learning to walk? Not likely. Sure, they may not want to immediately try again after they fall, but they do try again.  Each experience of falling down shows them what works and what doesn't.  Their strength increases.  Persistence and tenacity yields to success. Walking turns to running. And in X-man's case, it turns into climbing up on the counter and walking up there. 

As parents, if we constantly caught them before they fell, their learning would not be the same.  Sure, we do offer protection and they can rely on us. But we also have to allow them to have their own trials and errors. If we caught them every time they fell, sure, they would walk later but the same level of accomplishment would not be experienced. 

As I mentioned earlier, adversity is also the "storm". We've all experienced it in one form or another. Death. Accidents. Illness. Abuse. Unemployment. Those are just a few. There are many more. Emotional pain is intertwined within them all. Heartbreak. Betrayal. Depression. Anxiety.

Yes, there is a period that curling up and just crying is a way to cope. That is certainly understandable. However, at our pace, we do push through and we learn. We are stronger because of it. 

I do partially disagree with it in one sense, because when Chris was losing job after job after job from 2000-2004, I know I had strength. But when it happened the fourth time, it was as if I, being the tree, finally broke and cracked and fell to the ground in the wind. 

Sure, that storm eventually, passed. But in the midst of it when you're being taken out by the storms and your roots are ripped from the ground as your strength falls, it's not evident that the storm will pass. I am grateful that that years later I can look back on it and be grateful that it's in the past and reflect on what was learned from that turbulent time. 

I am confident in retrospect that God knew how much we could handle. He just trusted us immensely by taking it right up to the breaking point. 

But despite the initial weakness shown by breaking and falling in the storm, it did make us stronger. 

June 29, 2014 Sunday Doodle

It just didn't appear that way at the time. I do hope, looking back on that experience, that it gave me perspective and my re-planted roots are now stronger and deeper into the ground. 

I also reflect on how we change in how we use our strength. Because sometimes, despite our strength, we're just not the same after each storm. However, I can see that direction of topic going on for awhile. 

Therefore, moving on. 

Today's Sunday Doodle does allude to rain, but this is desiring it in the literal sense. Some rain and storms to ease the heat of the day, would certainly be nice. If only the Mesquite trees that line our streets didn't have such hallow roots. We take bets of how many will come down with each storm.

June is almost done. Two hot months down. Three more (officially) to go.