Getting Back To Your Roots

"ground-ed: to be humbly rooted while we grow."

The roots of plants and people act as anchors for stability, taking up nutrients to produce leaves and provide energy for change and growth. Our roots are what keep us grounded, but sometimes we get caught in its branches and leaves, that we forget to remember who we are and what our core stands for.  Until recently, I had built branches that were pulling me in all sorts of directions, and although my leaves felt multiplied and my opportunities growing, my roots were loosing their footing.

The thing is, roots are hard to uncover because they aren’t displayed on the surface.  They can’t be found within your current environment because the leaves grown are distant from roots that begin your growth, so sometimes it takes stepping into a different perspective to germinate a renewed sense of self.

For me, it’s Brazil that brings me back to my roots. Even though it’s not physical home to me, it brings me back to home base; to the truest representation of me. The country contradicts with my roots from home, wherein “go, go, go” turns into, “take it easy.”  Whereas America is focused on the future, the perfect product, Brazil is focused on today, the work in progress.  From my most recent journey to Brazil, I realized Brazilians held a secret to life that the American environment was lacking: beauty in simplicity.

Upon first glance, Brazil holds an image of perceived paradise, breathless beaches, 5-star steak, exotic views, and attractively tan humans, but “simple” is never a canvas Americans paint for the South American country. Although the latter adjectives are what “appears” to be Brazil, there’s more to a place or person than what reaches the surface, and its roots are what I am attracted to most.

Brazil isn’t TripAdvisor’s luxurious popular destinations,  but rather, modest padarias, where fresh bread is always the special of the day, small Volkswagen Gols that swerve through lanes, disregarding any traffic stops, and where the dish to die for is the simple, yet satisfying, arroz com feijão.  Their lifestyle is drastically different than the privileged one most Americans get to live.  With low wages and a high cost of living, iPhones, eating out, and enjoying a house with air-conditioning and a fully functioning washer/dryer are amenities out of their control.  Brazilians live in simplicity, yet hold an unquantifiable rich life because of it.

Trem do Pantanal, Campo Grande, Brazil

Parque das Nações Indígenas, Campo Grande, Brazil

The first layer leading to the discovery of my simple roots was Campo Grande, a city TripAdvisor can’t even name five “most popular destinations”, much less five things to do. To me, the most beautiful location was the trail at the end of my grandparents’ neighborhood.  It was tattered and torn, but connected the city into one, running through its “roots”: the train tracks, large fields, and vast rivers. On this path lied barzinhos (small bars), set up by plastic chairs and tables, small booths selling fresh coconut water and acai, and kids zooming by in roller skates with parents jogging at their side.  It was out of my ordinary, but its plain environment asserted a new focus on traditional values. Here, almoço and family trumped the lifeless emails and work tasks that would take precedence back in the US, and what mattered most came down to securing the fundamentals over surpassing one’s accomplishments.

Praia de Tainha, Bombinhas, Brazil

When the path of Campo Grande finished its course, my journey continued in Bombinhas, whose roots lied in natural beauty. Sucos and sunrises, acoustic guitarists, and golden grains of sand.  Waves that reached your hip, but never dared engulf your whole body, and peaceful setting strolls over high-speed chases.  All elements, simply breathtaking, from the bright shades of blue in the morning sky, to the off-sets of yellow and orange as the sun would lay its head.

Meia Praia, Itapema Brazil

On one of my last mornings in Brazil, my cousins and I climbed Morro do Macaco. The entrance to the trail was hidden, its path practically unmarked, yet led to an overlook immeasurable with that of New York’s Empire State Building or Paris’ Eiffel Tower.  The view solidified my hypothesis of simplicity that lied within Brazil; the country and its people didn’t seek out a spotlight or try to make a profit off their million dollar landscape, but rather, preserved their grandiosity as a hole-in-the-wall, a treasure patiently waiting to be uncovered.

We sat on the tallest rock in all of Bombinhas, and looked down at what laid beneath us, a 360 degree, crystal clear, view of the vast ocean and its miniature town full of miniature people. For a winkle in time, I let my eyes close in attempt to encapsulate the rooted feeling within me.  I felt empowered by every climb I had ever come out on top of, yet simultaneously overwhelmed by the uncertainty to what lied beyond my vision at this height.  Within this moment, a single quote came to mind, and my push-and-pull emotion found clarity within realizing how much richer life could be if it was looked at from a simple point-of-view:

“What lies before us and what lies behind us are small matters compared to what lies within us.” -Henry David Thoreau

Morro do Macaco, Bombinhas, Brazil

I came back from this adventure with far more clarity about where I was both going and growing than when I had first left. The impactful simplicity I witnessed in Brazil validates the conclusion that although a life can be full of big opportunities, impressive ventures, and successful rewards, sometimes what’s on the surface isn’t truly an individual in their most authentic form.

So, expand your branches, turn over a new leaf, but let your decisions stay true to your roots, because those simple satisfactions are what truly comprise your essence. In the end, your value doesn’t amount to the colored leaves or vast foliage you are able to show off, but rather, the foundation of what makes you stand tall and the core values you hold within your walls.