Feeling Root-bound

I have this plant perched on a cabinet that grows skyward without complaint.  The internet tells me that she is called a Dragon Tree and maybe that is why she never complains - she is fearless.  My other plants of this type are happy in my home, but tend to drop their lower leaves as they grow upward.  But this plant hangs onto every single spiked leaf as she produces more at the top. 

In recent months I noticed that her roots had run out of room in the pot, and the dirt was rising vertically, maintaining the cylindrical shape of the pot as it rose up with the plant itself.  She couldn’t find space in her confines and was searching outside her ceramic walls for more room. 

On this day I could relate.  I felt buried in the daily chores to keep my household running.  Laundry was piling up, the kitchen may be clean, but not organized, and my piles of clothing and extraneous household crap earmarked for a Goodwill donation were becoming a full-on mountain.  At every turn I noticed another unfinished project that would have to wait another day.  My responsibilities were starting to feel too big for my skin and I was feeling root-bound myself, looking for a way to rise up and out of this mess.

One of the many chores today was to buy groceries for our family and also for my mother-in-law who is  house-bound these days.  While I was at the one-stop shopping place, I wandered off to the garden section and bought an attractive, roomy pot for my green leafy friend along with some fresh black soil.

Later, with the spare moments between this and that, I spent a few short minutes moving this terribly root bound housemate into her new abode.  Surprised at the huge tangle of root fingers wrapped and twisted around and around, I felt guilty for ignoring her plight for so long.  I had always been a solid green thumb, something I inherited (and learned) from my Mama.  While I was at it I decided to liberate another neglected green beauty. A tropical plant in an itty-bitty pot inherited the Dragon's old pot and was able to stretch his roots as well.  My husband commented that it is too bad that houseplants aren’t like hermit crabs who line up by size and take over the shell next size up in an orderly fashion, all by themselves!

Now each time I look at these plants I imagine their twisted roots reaching into the fresh rich soil while yawning and stretching, feeling the relief of space and peace of mind.  And at the same time I, myself, stretch and feel the satisfaction of accomplishing one, maybe two, tiny things from my endless list.

This helps me to remember that moving forward merely takes one foot in front of the other, one inconsequential step at a time.  Although we’d all love a magic wand to wave our troubles and chores away in one big swoop, that is never going to happen!  To not feel root-bound, we just need to keep moving forward, one little step at a time and know that we will see the sunshine and start reaching out for the sky, too.

Happy in her new home.