Roots of Wisdom

Learning from Tabonuco tree

A tree is our most intimate contact with nature.
George Nakashima

I have always loved watching programs about nature. Not long ago, I found myself watching one about hurricanes, those powerful storms that seem to grow stronger every year, leaving destruction in their path. It was sobering to realise how little can withstand their force. And yet, even in the face of such devastation, there is always hope.

Scientists discovered that in the Caribbean, the Tabonuco trees are able to survive even the most violent hurricanes. Their secret is not brute strength, but connection. These trees do something extraordinary: their roots intertwine with one another. A single tree may be linked underground to twenty or thirty others, forming a living network of support.

I’ve always believed that nature is our greatest teacher, and the lesson of the Tabonuco tree is one we desperately need today. We live in a time of constant storms, not of wind and rain, but of messages and pressures that beat against us daily. Advertisements tell us we’re not enough unless we look a certain way, act a certain way, live a certain way. Ideals of perfection are sold to us endlessly, eroding our sense of stability and fuelling emotional distress. It’s as if we’re being shaken, little by little, until our roots feel unsteady.

But the trees remind us: storms don’t have to destroy us. They can push us to grow deeper roots. And like the Tabonuco trees, we can survive by staying connected, drawing strength from one another.

I remember attending a community meeting some years ago, when developers were trying to cut down trees in our area, promising that their plans were “for our good.” The mood could have been one of despair, but instead, I saw something remarkable. Our community came together. People spoke up, encouraged one another, reassured their neighbours. You could feel the bond in the air, like an invisible web holding us steady. That experience reminded me that even in the most challenging situations, connection can either divide us or unite us. And when it unites us, the strength is undeniable.

This truth became even clearer to me on a recent visit to the Dublin Botanical Gardens with my granddaughter. That place holds such personal meaning for me, it was where I first began to feel a sense of emotional freedom many decades ago. It brought another beautiful memories when I would bring our daughters there as toddlers. Walking there again with my granddaughter was like reliving those moments of healing, but through new eyes.

What fascinated me was how she responded just as her mother and her aunt once did as well. Little Georgia was drawn instinctively to the trees. She wrapped her little arms around them, picked up leaves, and proudly showed them to us. Her sense of wonder was so contagious that me and my husband wanted to stay there all day. It was as if she was reminding us, without words, that our bond with nature is timeless and instinctive.

The older I get, the more deeply I appreciate these lessons. Nature doesn’t just surround us, it sustains us, teaches us, and connects us. It reminds us that we belong, that we are part of something larger.

Like the Tabonuco trees, we need one another. We need connection. We need roots that intertwine. Only then can we withstand the storms of modern life, its pressures, its demands, its chaos and to start to enjoy the benefits of modern times as well.

So let’s learn from the trees. Let’s reach out, connect, and hold one another steady, because when we do, no storm is too strong.

Thank you for reading it

Mx

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