The Tree of Life

I find great comfort in the woods behind my condominium. As I look at the mature trees, I often find myself thinking about the parts of the trees and relate them to my life; my family; my journey. My roots began somwhere in South Korea but as a young seedling, I was transplanted to a small town in the midwest. The roots are my parents; biological; adoptive; step. I am the trunk and the many limbs that stem from that trunk represent different aspects of my life.
• Adoption
• Child abuse/neglect
• Surviving parental suicide
• Sibling Rivalry
• Being a mother
• Daycare/Pre-school
• Journey back to my Motherland of Korea
• Searching for birth family
• Marriage
• Divorce
• Parenting through Divorce
• Tales of employment/unemployment
• Careers
• Music and the impact it has had on my life
• Relationships
• Aging
The list could go on and on and on. As I study the trees, I often notice that some limbs die. They don't break off, just die. Then a storm or other act of nature comes and severs the limb from the tree. I relate that to relationships. The limb that represented my marriage was one of those limbs. It slowly died over time. Spring came and no buds formed there because it wasn't receiving the nutrients or nurturing that it needed. The limb still clings to the trunk and maybe someday will eventually fall off.
I could think about these trees and their patterns all day. I often think of what story the tree represents or I see people I know in the trunks and limbs of the trees.
Someone asked me the other day what inspires me to write. The trees in my backyard have inspired me to look at the big picture of life.