On the shelf in my studio is This Tree Is Older Than Your Are: A Bilingual Gathering of Stories and Poems from Mexico. I’ve read a handful of its poems to my kids; I used to act them out over their cunas, then camas, at bedtime. One of these is “Árbol de Limon” by Jennifer Clemens, from which the book’s title is taken. It goes:

“Remember

the tree is older than you are

and you might find stories

in its branches”

Simple, no? But really, think about this la próxima vez that you’re feeling stuck, unsure about the next step to take, about your possibility for success, and in need of a little inspiración. Encuentra un árbol viejo, and look up at it, from below.

Notice como las ramas spread out like a tangled map across the sky. How what you see looks like raices blooming up instead of down.

Everything that tree was meant to be, it is. Everything below the surface has found its way to manifest itself into the world. Take comfort in the fact that your roots can rise into magnificence, too.

* photo by lomacar