Grown down, not up

Most trees reach their full height in about 10 to 30 years, but they continue growing for many decades after that.

Trees keep growing down, not necessarily up or out.

For many trees, their roots will continue to expand deeper into the soil throughout the tree’s lifetime (with some root systems continuing to grow even after a tree is cut down). Deep roots establish the tree as a foundational part of its ecosystem, contributing to both its individual longevity and the broader flourishing of its community.

In the tech world, by contrast, we’re encouraged by CEOs and venture capitalists toward “limitless” expansion, to exponential growth, whether it’s human potential (ideally merged with machines) or space travel or shareholder profits. There’s no concern with being rooted in or committed to anything—except unchecked growth.

Designer and writer Mandy Brown says, referencing Jungian psychologist James Hillman:

“One of the imperatives in contemporary, professional work culture is to ‘grow.’ There is often a sense of height or largeness with that imperative, as if growth must be measured in your distance up the ladder, your territory across the way. In The Soul’s Code, James Hillman implores us to think rather of growing down, of growth not of branch but root, of becoming more grounded, sturdier, less able to be pushed around by the whims of others.”

The popular encouragement toward endlessly growing ignores the fact that unchecked, rootless growth isn’t progress: It’s cancer.

Great stories ground us in something larger than ourselves. Without them, we’re tempted to chase growth for growth’s sake, never investigating our foundations, never bothering to be rooted in something deeper.

In an accelerating, often rootless culture, it’s worth asking what it might take for us to be “grounded, sturdier, less able to be pushed around by the whims of others.” We could learn a thing or two from trees and how they grow down.