Through The Lens of Gardening

Where are you planting the seeds of your life, and are you harvesting them?

I recently sat in ceremony with Sarah Jenks, who said something so profound that it struck me deeply. She spoke about the different areas in our life we can get stuck in.

We can view it through the lens of gardening.

There is the planting of seeds phase, where we can come up with ideas and ‘plant’ them here and there and everywhere.

There is the growing of seeds phase, where we can take these ideas we’ve planted and build upon them, but never actually send them out into the world.

And then there is the harvest phase, where we can take the seeds we’ve planted and grown, and finally put them out in the world to be shared.

The harvest phase requires time, patience, understanding of self, and work. But it’s where we reap the benefits.

This spoke so much to me because I realized that I love to plant seeds. I am a master seed planter, if you will. I come up with ideas all day long. I dream, I journal, I channel, I write, I do it all. The ideas rise up in me like a spring that never ends. I value these seeds, my creativity, and I nurture them by planting them.

But then, a new seed pops up. It’s shiny, and full of energy, and ready to be planted. So, I move on to this fancy new seed. But when I do, I forget to continue watering my original seed. It eventually dries up, and nothing becomes of it. There’s no way for it to grow.

I’m hoping you can see how this metaphor is really the vision of my life, ideas, and work that I want to share with the world.

When I first heard this seed analogy, I realized that I’m really good at the planting. But unfortunately, I’ve been planting a garden that doesn’t actually have any plants to yield from. I never get to enjoy my bounty because I don’t continue watering. Instead, I just plant, plant, plant.

But then, damn it, I look around at my garden and all I see are dried-up little shrubs. This potential they had has been wasted because I never took the time to water them.

I’m tired of planting and not producing anything to harvest.

For you, maybe you’re really amazing at watering your garden. Maybe you water it all day long. Maybe you water it until the cows come home, but then you see all your plants grown and thriving and you think, hmm, this feels safe to me. I’m going to keep all my plants right here where I can see them. And you never harvest them.

You take all those beautiful ideas and you build something, but you never share it with the world. You instead let them dry up in the sun and die back into the earth, to be grown all over again.

Or maybe you love to plant your seeds, you love to watch them grow, and you’re amazing at harvesting them at just the right time, but then you don’t know where to take them to be enjoyed.

You have all these brilliant projects you’re throwing at the wall but have no direction. No end in sight. Do they belong at the farmer’s market to be sold? Or are they for your family to be enjoyed? Instead, you just leave them in the baskets outside, and never actually reap the benefits of seeing them fulfill their ultimate destiny.

Where are you in your gardening journey? If you looked at your life as a ceremony of gardening, what kind of gardener would you be?

These insights really struck me as I look to where I want to grow next. Which path do I want to take? Which seeds do I want to harvest?

I think sometimes we get so caught up in the process that we lose sight of the end result. We forget that we’re working towards something tangible and instead just keep our heads above water doing the day in and day out. Or, maybe you’re like me and you see all these beautiful seeds to be planted and yet you can’t pick which one to grow.

Wherever you are in your journey, I hope you know that in your heart, you are the gardener. You are powerful beyond belief.

And whether you choose a dandelion seed or a pumpkin seed, you will grow spectacular things that deserve to be harvested and shared.