Trees & Ponds

There are two types of people in this world: Trees and Ponds. Bear with me for a few moments as I attempt to offer up an explanation.

A good friend and I recently strolled around the beautiful and historic town of Mt. Gretna. As we explored the little pathways and commented on the picturesque cottages, I was also acutely aware of all the old trees towering above us, simultaneously providing cool shade and a luscious view. I thought about the trees and how they start as a small seed and take root in one, precise spot. Decades later, after slow and steady growth, the trees literally become a part of the scenic landscape and create comfort and natural beauty.

In another encounter with nature, I sat by a pond on a sunny afternoon in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania with the company of a few turtles, dragonflies, and the occasional frog. The pond had several fountains, which constantly produced a clean flow of water to the areas where the water ripples could reach. However, in the still water at the edges of the pond, algae had grown and gathered into a thick green, floating mass. It struck me that algae only thrives in stagnancy and untouched waters.

Some people are Trees, because they thrive in the nurturing effect of a stable environment. Close friends and family provide the light of inspiration needed to experience upward personal growth. The local community, traditions, and familiarity enrich a Tree and allow for roots to develop and strengthen them. Belief systems and new branches of thought form over a long period of time through careful observation of the surrounding environment, though the Tree remains still and unmoved. However, strong winds of change could topple a Tree, and to uproot it and place it on new soil could produce a withering effect.

Ponds, on the other hand, remain clear and beautiful when they continuously undergo movement and change. A new face or place brings about fresh inspiration. Personal growth usually occurs when new ideas collide with existing thoughts and cause waves, which produce a healthy but tumultuous ripple effect. A Pond accepts the discomforts of constant internal and external movement because movement itself provokes self-actualization. Conversely, biases and negative traits form when perspectives and beliefs remain stagnant, untouched, and unchallenged. A Pond will slowly become clouded, murky and dull if forced to continually accept the status quo, stability, traditions, and the tried and true “way of things.”

I am a Pond. I have moved 10 times in the past 5 years and simply cannot wait to hop on that plane to Northern Ireland in September and start on a master’s degree in Peace & Conflict Resolution. As a Rotary Ambassadorial scholar, I know that I will meet literally hundreds of people during those 12 months, none of whom I have ever met previously. I will have the opportunity to give presentations and get involved locally in a completely foreign environment, and travel to countries I have never been to. Although I have the framework in place; a passport, plane ticket, and an acceptance letter into the University of Ulster in Derry, I have no idea where I will live or who I will live with, what day-to-day life will look like, or how exactly this experience will forever impact me in the immediate and also distant future. And I am excited about these things because my past travels have taught me that expectations are a farce and that I am better off without preconceived notions.

There are downsides. Sometimes I feel as if most people, or at least most of my friends and family, are Trees. They are getting married and settling into wonderful lives with fantastic jobs, new houses, and their favorite local hotspots filled with a group of their mutual friends. Sometimes the life of a Pond is lonely and uncomfortable and inherently stressful. Those are the times that I wished that the "algae" of boredom, restlessness, bad habits, or discontentment wouldn't form when I stay in one place for a while. Can't I just be a Tree and follow in the sure path of so many of the people so dear to me? But, I can already feel that it is soon time for me to be on my way again, though I haven’t even been back in Lancaster for more than 4 weeks. And the countdown to September begins…

Obviously the metaphor of Trees & Ponds is simplistic and flawed. I learned the scientific terms for these two types of people in a tourism management class years ago. The extreme opposites are called ethnocentrics and alocentrcics with midcentrics sitting somewhere in the... well, middle. Sometimes I can better understand life in less technical terms and with the strong use of symbolism.

And what of you, dear Reader? Are you a Tree or a Pond?