A Baobab Tree In The Heart – Reflections On The Little Prince

If you find a baobab tree in the heart, you pull it out with root because its seeds contain fear, insecurity, deception and rage … Do as the little prince did. He removed the seeds from the giant baobab trees from his little planet every morning.

He did it for fear they might get too big. If they did, their giant roots would destroy everything that was known and loved…

Some forms of anxiety are intelligent rather than phobic. They increase our well-being. This fear regulates our survival as it is a controlled fear.

But on some occasions, and without even knowing why, baobab seeds are still able to germinate and infect everything. They are there just below the surface in our psychological garden. They sometimes grow unnoticed, but still change our balance and focus.

It requires effort

It is possible that among the many reflections that Antoine de Saint-Exupéry left for us in The Little Prince, this is the most interesting. In the book, our little protagonist tore up the “bad” seeds from his planet while nurturing and watering the “good” seeds.

The bad seeds were the baobab seeds. These were the ones he had to remove with the root before they could destroy his planet from the core. The rose bush seeds were the good ones. He had a special fondness for them.

This subtle metaphor undoubtedly symbolizes the image of our fears, from the darkest zones from which our cognitive distortions are strengthened. It is the sources created by stress, worry or sadness that obscure our mental palace and cause it to crack.

A baobab tree in the heart – what we all have inside

Each of us has a baobab tree at heart. It might just be a seed today – invisible, dormant and without creating problems. Some, however, suffer from the effects of its growth. The effect of the baobab tree is to expand its roots, wrapping everything around into them.

It changes everything and destabilizes it. This is because fear, like anger, implodes and destroys internal order, logic, and autonomy.

In The Little Prince, the protagonist of a scene asks the pilot if the lambs are eating bushes. When he confirms it, the protagonist responds with great joy. He believes he will finally be able to get rid of the threat from the baobab trees.

Nevertheless, the pilot corrects him immediately: A baobab tree is not a bush, but a tree. Baobabs are trees as big as churches. They are so huge that not even a herd of elephants would be able to eat an entire tree.

The little prince imagining this scenario suggested that he might be able to stack the elephants on top of each other. But seconds later, he realizes that the best strategy could only be to avoid their growth.

This is because when a baobab has grown too much, nothing can be done about it. The large destructive elements must be stopped in their early stages while they are very small and are nothing more than seeds …

The importance of stopping the growth of a baobab tree in the heart

There are some who see something more in the metaphor. They are the ones who warn that in addition to just being the seeds of our fear, they could also be the start of evil itself.

The destructive force makes the heart sick and is capable of affecting the worst atrocities. It can feed the most destructive scenarios of violence and destruction. We all have these in our collective memory.

In the end , the baobab seed has always been and will always be inside us. Whether we will fertilize it and let it grow depends on ourselves. Just like on the little prince’s planet, there are good and bad seeds in all of us. Whether they germinate and take root certainly depends on countless factors. For example, of our upbringing, education and life experiences…

We have a responsibility to ourselves

Regardless, we must not forget that it is in our own hands whether we want to be diligent gardeners. We can remove the bad plants in time. The bad seeds are of no use to us. They destroy the environment and break the natural balance of our personal garden.

This important task is the one that the little prince takes on every day. He is the one who removed what he did not want and cared for what he valued most: His rose bushes.

We do not need lambs or a flock of elephants stacked on top of each other to achieve this cleansing. If we have a baobab tree in our hearts, we have the responsibility to remove it in time. At the very least, we should not help its seeds germinate and grow.

This maintenance task contributes to balance, gives us wisdom and a sense of discipline. It allows us to be aware of any change, any unusual growth. This way we can stop small problems from growing into huge and terrible baobab trees.