Dear LYTERS ⚡️

How do palm trees 🌴 withstand hurricanes? 

They are so bendy in the wind. 

I’m on vacation at our family’s beach house in Sea Island, GA this week. I’ve caught up on laughs, cocktails, and a lot of sleep, but because our big summer selling period is marching towards us, I can’t really “turn it off.” ☕️

Making sure deadlines are met. Approving final marketing material. And kicking the ball forward across all departments is the name of the game right now. 

I’ll thank myself later. 🙏🏻

But in the midst of all of this, I can’t help but notice my different surroundings.

Sea island is known for its beautiful trees 🌲 🌳🎋 and Spanish moss, but this trip it’s really been the palm trees 🌴 that have caught my attention.

Palm trees are notorious for withstanding the most vicious storms⛈️, the toughest hurricanes 🌀 , and right now, with everything we have going on, I feel like I’m in my own personal storm ☔️. 

How are palm trees able to do it? When a hurricane hits, umbrellas fly away and even the largest most beautiful pines and oaks can snap. But the palm tree remains. 

Palm trees can withstand even the toughest hurricanes better than most trees because:

• Palm trees are not actually made of wood 🪵. Instead, they’re made of scattered spongy tissue.
• Palm trees don’t have traditional growth “rings.” Instead they have flexible cells 🧘🏼‍♂️ that can move around.
• Palm trees are more closely related to grass 🌱over other trees which makes them more flexible and bendy than most. 

Palm trees have taught me that to withstand the toughest hurricane, you have to be BUILT DIFFERENT.

You have to move things around to make yourself stronger. When you’re taking a beating, don’t snap, bend. And at your core, you need to be “spongy” or open to new ideas and new ways of approaching a stubborn issue that keeps pounding your trunk. 

When your own personal hurricane 🌀 arrives at your shore, remember to be a palm tree 🌴. 

LYTE it up, 
Jesslyn Rollins