Vertical Roots

Our world and society can become extremely fixated on vertical growth. For over 30 years the CN Tower in Toronto, Canada proudly held the title of “The world’s tallest freestanding structure on land”. Growing up in Toronto, I clearly recall learning that fact in school and whenever family or friends would visit from out of town I’d always make sure to pass on that knowledge. But in 2004, construction started on a building designed to become “The tallest structure ever built” in Dubai, UAE. With Canadians helplessly watching in 2007, the still under construction Burj Khalifa surpassed the height of the CN Tower. It opened earlier this year over 900 feet taller than the previous world record holder.

In sports at one point, Shaquille O’Neal at 7’1” was known as one of the tallest and most dominant NBA players. He held that title until Yao Ming stepped onto the court in 2003, standing at a modest 7’6”. Consequently both players were chosen as the number 1 pick in their draft year. Many organizations in the NBA build their teams around their tallest player and are constantly finding ways to get them the ball. The mere thought of how tall the next generation of NBA players will stand, is an image that sometimes haunts me at night. Honestly, I admit I too wish for my child to grow to heroic proportions and be dominant in a sport. But more than height, I want them to have the skills, sportsmanship and love for the game.

Even when dating or when talking to single women, the most typical description of their perfect man is tall, dark and handsome. It’s not handsome, dark and tall, or deep, cute and funny or short, stocky and quirky. Height is commonly listed as the leading characteristic among the majority of women. Maybe height is an indication of success or genetic progress? Perhaps height is a symbol of strength, protection and the ability to provide safety and security? I don’t know, but I’d feel more protected walking through a dark alley of LA behind Jet Li (5’6”) who can fight, than Brendan Fraser (6’3”) who can kind of act….but walking in front of the paparazzi into a Hollywood premiere it might be the opposite.

There are literally hundreds of examples in our society where upward or vertical progress is paramount to success. In my teenage years, using a handful of gel and spiking your hair up the highest meant something in the realm of “coolness”. Women constantly relate length to beauty: longer legs, longer hair, longer lashes, longer nails and longer high heels. Living on the penthouse floor or working on a higher story equates to triumph, and climbing Mt. Everest is the ultimate feat. In the 1960’s the US and USSR battled to fly higher and further in the race to outer space. We are trained and conditioned to think of progress as vertical linear movement, but is that always the case?

In the last few years my wife and I have taken on some new hobbies, one of them being gardening. We’ve grown plum tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, cilantro, mint, strawberries and a few different kinds of flowers and cacti. When we first started growing our plants, I too became fixated on their vertical growth and desired to have towering plants which I could look at and be proud. I dreamt of a multitude of tomatoes and peppers, lush, green cilantro that I’d pick any time of the year and make fresh salsa. I imagined sitting on the patio with my wife laughing, as I plucked a luscious red strawberry from our flourishing garden for her. I had all these expectations, hopes and dreams for our garden and I thought they were realistic. I thought it was normal and easy for them to grow, but when our plants seemed to lay dormant, I grew frustrated. For weeks I wondered why our plants were not growing tall and at times it almost seemed like they were becoming smaller. In a panic I grabbed the water can and made the common mistake of over watering them. Some plants died, some grew discolored but overall the progress of our garden was stunted. I was confused. I cared for our plants so much, how could this happen?

Later, while talking to a seasoned gardener I realized my shortcomings. While I had been so obsessed with its vertical growth I had failed to see its growth beneath the soil. The root framework was thriving and I was blind to its progress. The foundation of the plant was growing and I was growing frustrated. During this process you are advised to let the soil become drier, giving the roots the opportunity to extend throughout to seek out moisture. It’s in this process that the roots grow rapidly and independently while above the soil, changes aren’t clearly noticeable. Over watering (I use the term “over loving”) in this phase stunts the growth of the roots, making them short and dependent. The size of the plant pot is also crucial. The deeper and larger the container, the greater the likelihood your roots will develop, thus increasing the size and yield of the plant. In a healthy uprooted plant, the growth outside the soil is a fraction of the growth beneath the soil. With shallow but cute plant containers, my impatience and unrealistic expectations, my hopes and dreams of a lush garden were not fulfilled.

We are like plants. Initially, it’s important that we place ourselves in an arena that will encourage, challenge and give room for our roots to thrive. In a world where vertical growth equates to progress, instead of becoming frustrated with our vertical lulls or plateaus, it’s essential that we see growth from another perspective. Sometimes we set expectations on ourselves and others and base it on something visible. We should be concerned with the growth that is unseen rather than focusing only on the growth that is seen. We are more similar to plants than we are to skyscrapers. We cannot continue and expect to build higher and higher without giving our roots the opportunity to grow and extend deeper. If we do so, we’ll become top heavy and eventually we will fall. Our roots are critical to our personal growth. We need to carefully cultivate and lay down our roots so we can stand our tallest.