Trees Planted in Pots: The Stifled Growth & Inhibited Potential They Share With Us

The one about when I watered the plants in the garden and thought about the wasted potential of trees planted in pots ….

I moved into my dream home 18 months ago.

It was furnished and the garden was landscaped. It felt like a dream come true!

The only eyesore was 4 little trees planted in pots that looked pretty dead. No green leaves or anything.

So I watered them. I pruned them. And still nothing. At least not last summer.

This spring, however, I saw some little green leaves. Now around two-thirds of the trees are covered in leaves but they still look pretty brown and sparse.

As I was watering them again this evening, I thought about how much nurturing they need but that still doesn’t seem enough.

And as I looked at them, it occurred to me that they can’t put any roots down.

They can’t get anchored into the ground and draw moisture and nutrients from the soil which would help them grow.

The pots are in the way.

They contain them. They house them. But they also restrict them.

Just like the little boxes we put ourselves in restricting us.

Only that our boxes are invisible.

They’re made up of other people’s rules, judgments and expectations that then become our own.

When we are first born, we’re these young beings full of potential.

Limitless in possibility.

Everything is wide open.

It all just feels so exciting.

But as we start to mould ourselves into the boxes that are provided for us by our parents, by our teachers, by society, we forget.

We forget who we really are.

We shrink away.

We try to fit in and dim our own goddamn light.

We sacrifice our spark and begin to live the ordinary lives laid out for us.

The ones that have kept generations safe but emotionally bankrupt.

A life of being boxed.

Of being stifled, restricted and censored.

A censorship of the soul.

A slow extinguishing of our spirit and spark.

We surrender.

And just like the trees in their plant pots, we can no longer get rooted in our truth, passion or purpose.

Just like them, our potential diminishes the longer we stay in the box.

The fire slowly goes out.

UNTIL you reclaim your life.

You embrace all that you are and recognise that only standing in your truth and power gives you the energy and nourishment you need to thrive.

That’s when it becomes fun again.

When we reawaken all that had felt lost and extinguished.

Because potential is always there.

Whether you live it or not, it is waiting for you to discover and unleash it.

So say YES to your big dreams.

Say YES to all adventures.

Say YES to your desires.

Say YES to everything that sets your soul on fire.

But most importantly, say YES to yourself.

Don’t be like that tree in a box that needs way more nourishment than it would if it was in charge of its own grounding and anchoring.

Because without the boxes that stifle you, you flourish.

Believe that.

Live your truth.

No matter what.