See Past the Foliage

‘See Past the Foliage’ said a Bonsai artist and friend I follow on social media. Straight away I started thinking how this sounds like a great analogy for life.

The thought behind this is that if the structure of the little tree is well thought out, strong and sound, as the tree grows and develops over time future success is more likely. The oldest Bonsai tree in the world is estimated at 1000 years of age so anyone planning on passing on their trees for the future may be considering results beyond their own lifespan.

As time goes on a poorly developed little tree’s problems will become more pronounced, and at some stage the Bonsai will probably need a severe cut – losing years of growth. It may be given up on and planted out in the garden, probably a great result for the tree, not for the artist or grower. It might just get thrown out which is not a great result for anyone.

Seeing past the foliage can be difficult, and often the outside appearances can hide issues and problems, so it pays to take a good look.

I think rather than use this as a way to look for holes in what other people are doing, I am going to once again start a little closer to home with this one and take a good hard look at all that I am doing. I want to make sure that what I am working on and what I am measuring in 2024 and beyond is not just a bunch of pretty leaves that are there just for show.