This seems to be my theme going into this Fall.
Hello, beautiful souls, it has been quite the minute since I wrote a fresh blog post. In so many ways this feels like the unattended garden – overgrown and discarded in its various shades of brown. Yet, you look closer and see a few stubborn flowers still holding on. They remind you that new life is still possible.
This summer I had the pleasure of tending to an actual garden. Each week as I watered and pruned I felt my roots of stability and peace rest further into the soil below me. I am not a gardener. That is, I’ve never considered myself to have a “green thumb.” I didn’t care enough about plants, I told myself. I didn’t know know enough.
That thinking started to shift this summer. I let go a little. I realized those around me didn’t know as much either. I let the lessons of the garden ground me: We’re all just trying. Some things will work. Others will not.
Each week, after stringing up wire or cutting off dried-up shoots, I’d snap a photo of that week’s work. I’d get home proud of how much healthier the garden looked compared to when I first got there. Hey, maybe I was learning a thing or two. My growing pride and excitement carried me through the week. I couldn’t wait to see all the new growth when I returned.
Only, that was seldom the case! I’d return and see “all my hard work” foiled. Be it a critter or more dried-up shoots, it felt like everything I did the previous week became undone.
As this happened week after week, I became more cautious with some of the plants. Maybe they need a gentler touch. Eventually, I realized, maybe they just reached their limit.
I was learning to let go.
When I thought, “Oh, little garden, please just make it til the end of summer,” I was delighted with the surprise of new growth. Sunflowers! Basil! Tomatoes (Still green, but coming in hot nonetheless)!
Some things worked after all. Maybe they were always going to work. I just couldn’t see it at the start.
Maybe this site and this blog is like that. It’s been here nearly five years now (wow!). Some things have worked. Some things have not. But the more I try, let go, and remind myself that new growth is always possible, I come back brighter and stronger than I ever thought possible.
Here’s to me coming back a little more frequently this season. I can’t wait to see what crops up!
ICYMI: I wrote a book! Dear Teacher, You’re Enough: Finding the Needed Grace, Compassion, and Patience to Carry On will be published later this year!
Good teachers strive hard. Good teachers forget they’re good. Help me get this book into the hands of those who need to feel better.
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