By Dr. Kelly Jennings, The Source for Healing
Illustrated by Annie Dwyer Internicola
I stooped to pick up the small potted evergreen tree we had left outside through the fall and winter and found that during those hibernating months, this little tree had been busy. A large root had managed to crack through its cheap plastic home and had buried itself deep into the ground.
The little tree had thrown out its anchor and said Here. It had rooted itself.
Through plastic, through driveway gravel, through inhospitable, sandy soil.
Seeking nourishment from deep below. All through the winter, this little bush had this one life root. It had settled in for the cold, trusting the deep.
Now this small evergreen is bursting with vitality, beginning its reach in the other direction.
Up. Nourished from below, and inspired from above. It is reaching for the light.
Nature always makes me pause in astonishment.
I’ve seen flourishing trees growing on the tops of large rocks, with seemingly nothing to hold on to.
I’ve seen dead plants come back to life with just a bit of tenderness and care.
I’ve seen little streams wend their way through desert, mountain and concrete jungle to find and meet the ocean.
Life finds a way. Life always finds a way.
This spring, like all springs, I feel my own blood quicken. My body wants to stretch upward; I want to shake and shed. After a winter of quiet early nights, evenings by the fireplace with friends and family, early morning meditations in the dark—something in me says Grow.
It’s time to grow.
This season I ask you—what will you grow this spring into summer? What branch will you tend to most, pruning the others back to give this one your attention?
Will it be love, your family, your health? Will it be your community, your relationship? Or will it be simply to serve in the highest good for yourself and others around you?
What within you is reaching for the light?
Want to achieve your highest potential and your greatest vitality? Dr. Kelly Jennings is a primary-care physician and holistic health-care practitioner who will help you regain the strength, joy and confidence you deserve so your life becomes the one you were meant to live. █
I like to follow something similar to Lent—giving something up for 40 days. It could be food, like chocolate or sugar. Or it could be something bigger: a commitment to not argue, to practice random acts of kindness daily, to give something away every day and not buy anything new.
During this time, I usually do a more intensive one-week juice cleanse, when the weather is warm enough and I feel ready and motivated.
After 10 years of leading cleanses for several hundred people, I know what works and what doesn’t. Feel free to contact me for guidance.
