In the courtyard where Interact is, we have some trees. One of them is big, it has grown very tall and wide.
It’s nice, it keeps shade, and I’ve seen colleagues who smoke go out there to smoke.
But this tree has also spread a lot underground. Somehow its seeds have caught, around the tree are many shoots, like copies of the original. All around this tree nothing else grows, everything has been taken over by it.
About two metres from this large ash tree is the water channel.
The lady who rents us the villa is afraid that the roots of the tree, extended, will press on the water pipes supplying the house.
I don’t know if this is the case, I’m not good at it.
This tree looks like some people.
Why do I say that? Because I often observe people who can be overwhelming in their behavior. Here are a few:
They talk long and loud. When they start talking, no one has room to say anything. They leave no room for others to speak. They describe something in great detail, oblivious to the attention and patience of others.
They don’t listen to others; they pretend to listen, then go on with what they want.
Have you ever wanted to clarify something and felt like you were in parallel worlds? No matter how hard you try, the other person is in their own movie, not showing that they want to understand.
They can be quite intentional when they speak their mind, leaving no room for other opinions.
They digress a lot, they have no structure at all; hence the feeling of too much, too convoluted, hard to follow.
I can’t say that I don’t suffer from some of this myself sometimes. I can get too intense, admittedly. Perhaps many of us have such ‘deviations’. It’s the quantity and frequency though that become hard to bear.
“Nothing grows in the shade of great trees”, said Brâncuși to Rodin when the latter suggested he work in his studio. Not all of us are as talented with the chariot as these artists. Maybe we leave room for others to be around us.
