Stepping outside of my mind and paying attention to the world around me helps me gain perspective. The stories we grow up with make it easy to believe our efforts should be directed, outcomes predicted, and success achieved. The mound of acorns on the ground, few of which ever become a tree, is a reminder that things aren’t so straightforward and there are many ways for a seed to exist in the world.
The past few days I've been noticing roots. The huge roots of the banyan trees. The spiderweb roots of flowers as I re-pot them. The turnips, carrots, and beets I roast in the oven. They're so different and all serve the same purpose.
Roots hold a plant in place. They provide water and nutrients. The shape of a root system is a reflection of both genetics and circumstance. The root systems of plants interact interdependently with each other and with other parts of their ecosystem. It's easy to imagine a root system as the ties we have with people in our communities.
I imagine people with a core group of lifelong friends or a social circle focused on family as a plant with a thick taproot. The plant has invested so deeply in one little thread of connection that it has turned into a round gem, rich with nutrients.
The opposite type of root system, fibrous roots, are the social butterflies. They're connected to a great number of people. While the degree of bond between them varies, it's nothing compared to a taproot. They have access to many sources of what they need.
Like debating between gelato and ice cream, there's no superior system. They're simply different systems, each the ideal system for a given plant in a given situation. There are many ways to be rooted.
Sacramento calls itself the city of trees. With the longstanding drought, many of their roots have been weakened. The trees look healthy above ground, yet they’re standing on their own. With each storm, more trees topple.
When a plant is subjected to stress for too long the roots can become so degraded they’re unable to transport water and nutrients. The plant needs to grow new roots in order to survive. Even though the plant is weak, it must use the energy it has left to reach out and develop new connections.
We humans are much the same. We grow more and more depleted until we're too weak to absorb what we need to keep going. Our withered roots leave us isolated and alone. The only way to survive is to rebuild our ties, even though we have so few resources and growing roots is a slow process.
A plant with deep roots is better able to find water in conditions of drought. A plant with a wide root network is better able to find the nutrients it needs. A plant with a thick taproot is more likely to have its roots remain viable during hard times.
When conditions change, a root system that works may suddenly no longer be enough. Roots need to be abandoned, protected, and redeveloped to fit changing circumstances.
Some plants develop new roots readily. I've been surreptitiously plucking off bits of easily rooted plants for a friend eager to start a garden. Others have root buds just above the soil, lying in wait. I like the term for this: adventitious.
Some plants need their root systems pulled apart when they're re-potted or they will remain curled tightly under old constraints that are no longer there. Other plants are resistant to investing in new roots.
Our community ties don't just develop spontaneously. They need to be cultivated. A tiny silver thread of root does not turn into a carrot overnight. It takes time for root systems to knit together into that dense network that exists under our feet.
Often the ties that seem to develop spontaneously are being carefully curated by our parents, teachers, mentors, and friends. This is the labor of kinkeeping and community building. There is so much dedication of time and resources to build and sustain those connections. During these long droughts faced by caregivers, so many of us have had to divert our resources to other uses, until our roots have withered away. A wise strategy for short-term challenges can be our downfall when hard times go on for too long.
What shape is your root system?
How do you cultivate your community ties when you’re in a proverbial drought?
Can you envision this as a Buzzfeed quiz?
Is the biology of this totally wrong?
Do you have an interesting plant fact to share?
What if being a burden weren't a problem, but rather was the point?
“Is this not in large measure what it means to belong to a family: to burden each other—and to find, almost miraculously, that others are willing, even happy, to carry such burdens? Families would not have the significance they do for us if they did not, in fact, give us a claim upon each other.”
The Kaiser Family Foundation has created a document explaining how access to medical care in the US will change once the public health emergency designation is ended.
There’s an Introduction to Disability Justice 101 webinar coming up on February 25th.
How to Embed a Disability Economic Justice Policy Framework in Domestic Policy Making