I came across a quote from the Persian Poet Rumi that gives insight to why superficiality never satisfies.

“Maybe you are searching among the branches, for what only appears in the roots.”

It seems to me that during the first half of life, what I affectionately refer to as the “trip out,” we branch out and scour the earth for things to add to ourselves. We add beliefs, labels, titles, partners, possessions and a whole host of shiny objects that are supposed to complete us. But most of them never can.

Once we turn the corner and start the “trip home,” we begin to drop off some ideas and things that once seemed so meaningful and recognize these subtractions for what they were: superficial. In the process we begin to discover our roots and leave our addiction behind.

It’s a hard turn going from out to in because the artifacts of out, because of our conditioning, seem so necessary. The whole notion of “keeping up with the Joneses” is on a snapping branch that falls to earth where we get closer to our roots.

Our addiction to the notion of what’s “out there” as being the answer to our problems is so embedded in our conditioning that we rarely question its validity. We are addicted to addition. We become so top heavy with superficiality until we can’t bear the weight any longer and fall to the ground where our trip out grinds to a halt.

We have to lighten our load in order to start the trip back – back to who we are without all our labels and possessions. The trip home is the road to recovery where we find ourselves in the roots.

Your longings aren’t for the next new things to add; they’re for the feeling that’s only possible in the rich soil of the roots.

The way home begins with subtraction. Drop off superficial additions one-by-one and notice how you begin to feel more warmth from the sun.

Going home is going back to our roots where we find what we’ve been looking for all along – our depth.

All the best,

John