In the hustle and bustle of our daily lives.

It's easy to lose track of ourselves.

We go through the motions and fall into comfortable routines

that feel safe and sedentary.

Until something big happens that makes us stand up.

Life is about constant change.

It's inevitable.

The question then becomes do we ignore it until it happens?

Or do we face change and create change intentionally?

In this talk from Summercamp, Lana Jelenjev uses the analogy of

replanting a tree to communicate the delicate and intentional process

of creating change in our lives.

When we re-root we need to evaluate our surroundings, set boundaries,

and choose our companions wisely so that we find the fertile ground that

allows us to grow the way we need to.

I hope this talk will inspire you to create nourishing

change for yourself in 2024.

Um, before I begin, I would like for us to just take a few seconds to honor

the land that we've been here and we've been taking it in its abundance.

Um, I would like for all of us to just look at the ground, look at the soil.

Look outside this fertile ground that has been here for us to

enjoy, for us to be together, for us to connect, to be inspired.

The land that's nourishing us and feeding us.

And as we take gratitude, not just to the land, let's also say

thanks to the stewards of the land.

Those that had kept it fertile, nourished, thriving.

And it might not just be now, you know, the, the, the farmers and the

owners and the stewards that are now, but also let's think back to

generations, to the ancestors, the one that tilled the soil, that kept this

place for us in the here and the now.=

When Carlos asked what would be a topic that I would like to

explore I immediately was like oh I have one and that's re-rooting.

So for the past seven years every year or before the start of the

year I have this practice of calling in a one word intention.

So a word that can help guide me through the year Support

me, lead me in exploration.

And this year my heart settled on re-rooting.

But what does re-rooting really mean?

How do I feel re-rooting?

How do I see re-rooting?

How do I even, you know, hear re-rooting in my life?

As a person, as a wife, as a mother, as a friend, as an entrepreneur.

And all the complexities that my being carry.

At the start of the year, I was just so clueless, like, it

just came and I had to follow.

And we're now at nine months in the year.

I couldn't really say that I have the answers as to what maruting really means,

yet I do have some glimpse of what it was for the past, you know, nine months.

And this is what I would like to share with you today.

So these are the questions that I started with and I held those questions in my

heart for the past few months and asked them repeatedly in the things that I said

yes to and the things that I said no to.

And part of What I would like for this talk to be is to be a shared experience.

So if I may invite you to a guided visualization.

And for those who do not feel like it and do not want to take

part in it, this is also okay.

So for just for you to sit and listen or, you know, let your mind wander, it's okay.

But for those who would like to try out, um, this process of rerooting.

I'd like for you to get comfortable.

Sit in a position where you can really feel your spine keeping you upright.

Let the energy flow from the crown of your head, feeling it to your

shoulders, going through your spine.

Let that energy flow through your hips, to the back of your thighs.

To your back of your knees, to your calves, and all

the way down to your soles.

Feel the ground beneath your feet, and notice how your feet

are firmly planted to the ground.

Imagine being able to see the magical pool of the universe

that's keeping your feet planted.

Imagine that you have roots deeply planted to the soil.

From the soles of your feet to the soil, going as deep as it can, and

how our roots stretch out, not only deep, but also wide, touching the other

roots of those that are here around us.

All of us are part of this wood wide web, nourishing and feeding each other.

Passing on nutrients, on wisdom, strength, all 150 of us, strong,

grounded, sturdy, supported.

Now think of a moment in your life where you felt the most

alive, the most grounded, most connected to the roots of life.

A time where you were thriving, where you felt deeply nourished,

where you felt tingly and excited, and in flow, keep seeing that memory

in your eye, this is the time where you reconnected to the essence that

is inherently there inside of you.

And like a tree, think of what made you that, at that point, so sturdy.

So strong and powerful.

What conditions supported you in your thriving?

And more importantly, who was there with you?

Who are the people that you can see that has nourished and kept your soil fertile?

Who and what helped create that fertile soil?

From where you were drawing nutrients and support and care and nourishment.

Who and what helped you to be firmly rooted.

Bask in the memory of what is surfacing for you.

And in your mind give thanks to those who have created the

conditions for you to thrive.

For those that have helped prepare you for that moment.

To be in that well resourced state.

Acknowledge the maneuvering of the universe that has allowed you in

that time, in that moment to be fertile, to be rich, to be thriving.

Give gratitude and grace to the various parts of the ecosystem that

has allowed for you to flourish.

And for those who might find this exercise challenging, trying to recall a moment

like this, And yet find it elusive.

Please tend to your heart.

Tend to it with loving kindness and know that this is available for you.

As you settle on the emotions and the thoughts of that memory, I invite

you to come back to this space.

How was that to reconnect to this memory of when you are deeply rooted?

And we know that in life such conditions change.

We know that there would be moments, and you probably can think of a time

or two or more, where you felt the soil beneath you move and shake.

Where that fertile ground that you felt yourself in is not fertile anymore.

Moments in your life where you already can see that where you were

planted does not suit you anymore.

Where the status quo from which you are comfortable, feeling complacent,

feeling okay, does not meet who you are right now, or where you

want to be, or who you want to be.

And these are the times where change happens.

Where we feel, according to Arthur Burt, where nothing, nothing compares

to the pain of when the uncertainty, Is very much needed than the pain

of staying in the present moment.

And this are the times where we feel we need to do something.

Moments that we might be, you know, choosing these moments, but there might be

moments where we do not choose it at all.

The things happen for us, around us.

These are the times when the status quo is no longer serving,

and you find yourself uprooted.

This might be intentional, like how I moved and studied out of my province,

or how I moved from the Philippines and studied and worked abroad.

Or it might be moments where we were not prepared for it.

Like how I experienced breast cancer at the age of 37.

These are the periods where we experience both rootedness and uprooting.

These are all both part of our lives.

And in these situations, what do we do?

How can we address it?

How can we carry our lives in this period of uprooting?

I would say, for me, the intentional uprooting has

been my space of exploration.

The times where I choose to be uncomfortable are the times where I

found myself with greatest growth.

These are also the times where I found myself with people that

has helped me support myself.

These are the moments where in, the Japanese practice, they called Nemawashi,

wherein when you are to transplant a tree, you have to dig around the roots.

And then you have to trim the roots so that when you replant a

tree, you're creating the perfect conditions for it to thrive.

And this is what we are doing when we reroot ourselves.

We are laying the foundations for us.

To thrive.

We are thinking of who do I want to bring in this next moment?

What do I need?

What do I need to let go of that does not serve me anymore?

Who do I need to let go of that does not serve me anymore?

What dreams did I make before that perhaps need revisiting?

Who is this version of me right now?

And who is the version that I want to be?

Rerooting intentionally for me means designing the ecosystems

that would enable us to flourish.

Not to drift, not to survive, but to thrive.

And when I think about re-rooting, I get connected to what's wrong

with me, not what's wrong with me.

And re-rooting, again, gives me to that space where I design the conditions

that would make life meaningful.

And that, for me, is my choice.

Rerooting is a choice.

It's a choice on how I stay grounded.

It's a choice on who I want to surround myself with.

It's a choice on how I set my boundaries.

How do I say, Heck yeah, to heck no's.

And how do I bring the energy in the room that I inhabit.

Rerooting for me means surrounding myself with people.

Like this, in this given time.

It means finding those that can support me, that those I

care about, that I can support.

And for me, re-rooting is a path to selffulness.

For those who probably know me, you've probably heard time and time again,

I keep referring to selffulness.

And this, for me, is what selffulness is.

Now, isn't it sad that for most of our lives, we're told, you know,

that there's some pieces of us that are broken, or that there's

some pieces of us that are missing.

And so we get out of our way to look for those missing parts,

trying to get ourselves whole.

Yet wholeness is our birthmark.

It's our birthright.

Wholeness is who we are.

We do not achieve self actualization because we are all born self actualized.

And this is the part that also amazes me.

You know, how can we think of ourselves as broken when our very bodies

carry the materials of the cosmos?

When our atoms, our atoms are forged from stars.

So we are all divine.

We are all essential pieces of the universe.

When we are living, breathing bodies of energy.

And this for me is the essence of selffulness.

As I re-roote myself, I reconnect to that essence of what's inherently there.

Away from what society told me who I need to be.

Away from how my culture, how my upbringing.

It's loving myself to the point of seeing who I am.

And for some of you here, you probably are here because you're re-rooting.

You're finding your way to fertile grounds.

You're finding your way to your tribe, to people who can support you to be

sturdy, to be firm, to be strong.

And this is why I invite you to look around you to the

people that are here right now.

To your left, to your right, to those in front of you, to your back.

Take a moment to see who are the faces that are here.

Being here in summer camp is a good example of re-rooting ourselves.

We're in, we ask ourselves, What is it that I really care about?

Who do I really want to serve?

Who do I really want to connect with?

And there's also certain things of, How do I tend to myself?

Probably there, these are questions that you have not given

your time or space to explore.

Yet here is a time to explore our feelings, our emotions, our core.

And oftentimes I'm reminded, When we think about trauma, when we think about

pain, that hurt people hurt people.

Yet when I think of rerooting, I also think of settled bodies settle bodies.

And how am I being that settled bodies for people that are here?

By reconnecting to myself, I can show up in spaces and know that I'm

bringing the energy that is needed and wanted and what I would want

to share for people in this room.

So for me, intentionally rooting goes back to healing.

As I intentionally re-roote myself, I choose to know what

is within my responsibilities, what is within my core and us.

Our lives are intertwined like the visualization a while ago.

We are all part.

Of this massive wood wide web.

We are all connected.

We are all entwined.

So my healing is your healing and my liberation is your liberation.

And we are all in this together.

Thank you.