"The Connection Between Flourishing, Productivity, and Tree Metaphors"
"That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither--whatever they do prospers."—Psalm 1:3
You Are A Tree Book Trailer
Video from Bethany House Publishers
"That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither--whatever they do prospers."—Psalm 1:3
Sometimes we describe ourselves as trees. When we're thriving, we speak of being rooted and fruitful, in a good season. When we struggle, we might describe ourselves as withering, cut off from friendship and the world. These ways of describing ourselves matter because they shape the ways we live.
But in a world dominated by efficiency, we have begun to use more unforgiving metaphors. We speak of ourselves as computers: we process things, we recharge. In doing so, we come to expect of ourselves an exhausting, relentless productivity.
You Are a Tree examines how the metaphorical descriptions we use in everyday life shape the way we think, pray, and live. Weaving together meditations on our common human experiences, poetry, Scripture, and the Christian tradition, Joy Marie Clarkson explores how metaphors help us understand things like wisdom, security, love, change, and sadness.
This book invites you to pay attention—to your experiences, and to the words you use to describe them. That attention reveals a richly layered and meaningful world, a refreshing perspective that nurtures wonder, gratitude, and hope.
"Extraordinarily creative and beautifully written, You Are a Tree is a soul-stirring companion to life in God's world that will enrich the spirit of all who read it."—DAVID ZAHL, author of Low Anthropology
Shop Now: https://www.amazon.com/You-Are-Tree-M..." from the video introduction
Choose Flourishing Over Productivity
Sadly many people today have put their time and energy into being a productive machine but nothing else. We become a cog in the machine of commerce. We become numb to real life and do not invest in our loved ones or our community.
Can we be productive without it overwhelming our lives? Can we flourish?
“You Are a Tree!” How to choose flourishing over productivity || with Joy Marie Clarkson
Video from About Progress
"Metaphors shape our perceptions of ourselves, our relationships, and our capacity for personal growth and change. When we use them to speak about ourselves and our world, they are reflective of the beliefs we carry and the truths we prize.
Today, our guest Joy Marie Clarkson wants you to better notice the metaphors you’re anchoring into and how to switch them to ones that encourage flourishing over productivity. If you’re tired of your constant cycles of updating, crashing, and rebooting, Joy will teach you how to stop looking at yourself as a machine and instead own this metaphor for yourself: I am a tree." from the video introduction