Member-only story

How Roots Are Guiding Me in Grief

“Rooted” was my word for 2024; I had no idea how much I’d need it…

Aaron Charles
Gardening, Birding, and Outdoor Adventure
8 min readDec 17, 2024

--

Photo by Omar Ram on Unsplash

Roots start small. Through a combination of water, light, and the incredible nature of the natural world, they push deeper. They push through dirt. They upend hard things in their way. They hold firm against the winds and storms that pelt their symbiotic connections above the surface. Roots are worthy of our attention. I knew this when I picked “rooted” as my word for 2024.

What I didn’t know was that I would face the toughest year of my life.

Resolutions

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

The beginning of the year brings incessant talk of resolutions. We’re all encumbered by it. I’ve never been one to latch on to the idea. It hasn’t worked for me in the past, so I began looking for something that might.

Heading into 2023, I was encouraged to choose a word for the year. My word for that year was “Focus”. As the year was winding down, I looked back on the year of “Focus” and began thinking about what impact that word had on my year. There were times when I was better at focusing than others. There were moments when I was blown off…

--

--

Gardening, Birding, and Outdoor Adventure
Gardening, Birding, and Outdoor Adventure

Published in Gardening, Birding, and Outdoor Adventure

A community for vegetable and flower gardening enthusiasts, lovers and observers of birds, outdoor explorers and adventurers, and good photography.

Aaron Charles
Aaron Charles

Written by Aaron Charles

Christ-follower. Husband to @SarahLCharles. Simple moments hold great power. Connect with me at my website: www.aarondcharles.com

No responses yet