Personal roots

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We tend to look at our roots as a base, a foundation that rests in family, culture, and the little rituals that go with them. And while these are absolutely part of our roots, there is a third part to our roots that can be much more personal.

Rather than looking at family and culture, we can also from a very personal perspective observe where we have come from through our memories.

These can be memories of early childhood. For instance, the earliest memory we can recall in all likelihood tells us something about what is important to us throughout our lives.
They can also be memories that seem to come from other times, other places, and yes other cultures entirely. Memories of totally different life-experiences where we may have been doing things, learning things, that somehow tie in to our current every day lives.

It is not terribly important whether we sense those memories as things we are imagining, or truly as a reality we had once be part of. Whether we have that ‘wild imagination’ or a perspective that allows us to re-experience what once was, either way the images that come up ~ the visions we become aware of ~ are part of our personal roots and form (part of) the foundation of life as we are living it.

At first glance, these intensely personal roots may be totally different from the values and principles of the family and culture we grew up in. Although often there will be ties between the two…

This way it may happen we grew up in a family where our father and father’s father were doctors, while we ~ based on our personal roots ~ appear to have a great affinity for shamanism and healing.
It illustrates how the tie may be obvious, albeit not an easy one necessarily!
For having the shamanic/healing affinity may prompt us to break with family tradition ~ something that  in some families is frowned upon to say the least…

And yet, that set of memories or imaginations that form our personal roots are an important part of how we live our lives. While on one hand we have absolutely a free will choice to actually pursue whatever these memories and imaginations are telling us; they often will link us to our heart’s desires. They can point us into that very direction in life we feel truly passionate about.
Not from a perspective that says that we have to turn back the clock and become that person we were in our memory or imagination; but rather taking those visions ~ those affinities ~ and bringing them forward into this point in time.

Growing a new tree upon old, old personal roots.
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