I've been polishing this piece of writing for about six years. It explains why I parent the way I do (yes, I have children - I don't talk about them much online though). People have asked what my 'secret' is. It's the classic 'less is more' approach. It's also a reaction to the way I was brought up and it may come as no surprise that the writing was actually done as an exercise for a counsellor who wanted to 'see something of my feelings written down'. He also said that he hoped that I would publish it one day so here it is.
Besides, New Year's Eve seems like the right time to publish a more personal post.
How to grow a bonsai tree:
Sow the seed in a pot that
is too small. As the seed begins to grow, keep the pot small – by giving the
roots no opportunity to extend, you ensure the tree will stay tiny. Wire and
clamp both trunk and branches – this guarantees that the tree grows the way you
want it to grow. Plan the most attractive composition for the branches then
train them in this direction using the wires. Pruning is essential; clip and
snip to prevent the tree from becoming unwieldy or, heaven forbid, large. With
enough time and effort (and you will need to put in a lot of time and effort as
bonsai trees need constant tending) you will have a miniature tree that will be
a testament to your patience and industry. People will be amazed at your
mastery over nature and you will feel a huge sense of accomplishment and pride.
How to grow a tree:
Sow the seed in the ground.
Watch over the seedling while it is still tiny – you may need to protect the
tender young shoots. In the early stages, you may need to prop it up, but after
a while the trunk will be strong enough that it can grow without support. Water
regularly in the beginning. After a while, when the roots have grown deep and
wide, it will source its own sustenance from the earth. Prune as little as you can, if at all. The tree
will find its own form and this is beautiful in itself without any shaping from
you. As time goes by, you will find that you need to tend the tree less and
less. Step back. Watch it grow and grow. Years later, you will find that the
tiny tree that you watered and kept safe has become something majestic and
wonderful. People will be amazed at its
size and form and beauty, and you will feel a huge sense of accomplishment
and pride.
How to grow a child: as you would grow a tree – watch
over them while they are still tiny and vulnerable; prop them up in the early
stages; sustain them until they can sustain themselves. Don’t be tempted to
show your mastery over nature by stunting them, by keeping them small. Don’t
clip at them and snip at them just because you think they should be or look a
certain way. Don’t grow a child as you would a bonsai. Don’t take a living
being and make them lesser than they can be.
Some parents are bonsai parents. Bonsai parents have an
idea of what they want their children to be and they take every step they can
to realise this. They end up with ‘show children’ who demonstrate what time and
effort and money can achieve. That these children might not be happy never
occurs to them. Appearance is everything, after all.
Here’s the thing though: every bonsai has, at its
heart, the ghost of a natural tree than never was.When you’ve been constrained, shaped, prevented from
going in a direction that felt natural to you - simply because someone else
felt it would be better for you to go a particular way, that they would prefer
you to be different to your own inclination - your inner tree yearns to burst
out and stretch its roots and branches.
Working in education. I have seen whole systems
dedicated to the production of ‘bonsai children’ – governments and parents who
all want that managed perfection that is only achieved by constant interference
and control, by pedagogical and familial snipping and clipping. If you
cultivate thousands of bonsai trees, you will end up with a bonsai tree
display. It might be pretty at first but, after a while, one bonsai looks
pretty much like another. If, however, you grow thousands of trees, you will
end up with a forest. No one can argue about the many benefits and the far, far
greater beauty of a forest.
So many children feel the chafing of the wire and the
effects of the clamping. I know this from my own experience. A child’s initial
acceptance of their bonsai-state makes their parents even more incredulous when
they rebel and express dissatisfaction about their constraints. How could you
not want to be a bonsai? Bonsai is
beautiful. It is so clever. You must be mad to think otherwise. To want
otherwise.
Did you know that the bonsai process can be reversed? If planted in the ground and left unpruned, the tiny bonsai tree will act like
a cutting and begin to grow again in a natural way. This is a truth I have
found out for myself in recent years as I have tried to get back something of my own natural state. But a natural tree has no place in a bonsai collection. It is ungainly and conspicuous. It stands out. It doesn't look like the others.
I don’t fit in. I spoil the clever effect, the pretty arrangement. I’m like a weed. Bonsai growers loathe weeds, and so do bonsai parents.When you distance yourself from a pruning,
clipping, clamping family, you start to stretch and grow. It
hurts, of course, at the beginning. When you have been constrained and wired in
a particular direction, you will feel the cramps as you extend. When you have
been used to a certain type of nurturing, it’s a shock when it is no longer
part of your daily life.
Then I look at my own children – I have no idea what
they will do, how they will be, how they will look when they are grown. That’s
amazing, exciting – I am going to enjoy finding out exactly who they are. I
don’t want them to be me and I don’t want them to be a certain way. They are
reaching out and stretching tall and finding their own shape and space. They
are glorious and interesting. They are different. People see their individuality and comment on
it.
I look at myself. After years of being confined and cramped,
I am finally taking back my true form.I push my roots deeper and wider, drawing
sustenance and anchoring myself.
I unfurl, further and higher – there is so
much which is finally within my reach, now that I am not small. Now that I have
left that bonsai life behind.People are amazed by the changes, the very good
changes, in me.
And I feel a huge sense of accomplishment and pride.