The Deeper the Roots…

Taken with my iPhone in the SB Ladie's Room - Copyright Starbucks

“Hello, my name is Megan and I’m a Starbucks Addict.”

The odd thing about my Starbucks addiction is that I don’t even like coffee; I will occasionally drink a sugary, milk-espresso drink (iced carmel macchiatos are my favourite), but mostly I get an iced tea, sit around in a comfy chair and read, write or draw. I practically live in my local SB (and know where they are in the three closest major cities). Still, I’ve only ever seen this art piece in one location, and they keep it in the women’s bathroom. (I have no idea who made this piece of art, but I assume that Starbucks owns the copyright – if you know the artist please let me know so I can credit them.)

I’ve been looking at this tree for years; I love it. I just love the idea of it. I’ve been thinking about making a version of it for myself for a long time now, but a few weeks ago as I was plugging away at my work I decided that this was just the kind of thing I needed to help provide me with clarity and direction for what I was doing.

I decided to go have an iced tea and take the time to really examine the tree: what were they putting in it? How did I decide what kind of facts I needed to be clear about? In short, I needed help figuring out what the heck to put in my tree.

I noticed that their information answered very specific questions about their business: What do they do? Who do they serve? etc… So I sat down in my comfy chair (with my headphones on – it’s way too hard to focus without headphones) and I asked those exact same questions about Limitless Living.

The Deeper the Roots, the Higher the Reach

It’s this philosophy that I like so much about this project; the idea that considering both what my values and motivations are as well as where I want those things to take me – or how I want to express them in my work, adds value and reach to what I do in the end. You and I and Starbucks may have some of the very same root values (people and passion come to mind), but how we express them in the material world will be drastically different, a unique expression of us.

So, this weekend I finally sat down with my list and made my own Tree of Reach. I drew my tree off a photo I took last spring in a local park, planned where my words would be, and then coloured it in with Derwent and Prismacolor pencil crayons.

I still have to do the background… I didn’t really want to do the whole thing in pencil (ack… it would take forever) and think watercolour will look particularly nice, but the paper is too light (I think) for the wash. I’ll probably risk the paint, but in the interim here is the official “Deepen Your Reach” values and goals for Limitless Living:

Cut off on the right side: Wisdom & reach for their dreams

I found this to be far more useful for me and my creative self than any other mission statement or elevator speech assignment I’ve done before. I especially like that it’s become a piece of art that I can proudly display in my office.

I’m thinking of making a little kit with the questions to help you workout what your roots and branches are and an empty tree template for filling them all in on. Interested?

In case you can’t read it above my Tree says:
ROOTS
- Inspire – Wisdom
- Personal Responsibility – Connection
- Spirit – Passion & Purpose
- Grace (aka Compassion to me)