Creating Space
Remove old blooms so new seeds can be planted.
A part of me has returned that I feared might’ve been lost. The one who delights in gardening!
Last year I took a break from gardening. I told myself it’s because I wanted to see how the sun moved across our new property and because we knew we’d have a big fall project planting close to 1,000 tulip bulbs, but looking back I think I was simply tired.
Gardening, no matter what the size of the garden can be quite time consuming. It can absorb whole seasons with constant work and requires devout attention. When the harvest comes I feel like I need to be prepared for canning, drying, freezing, delivering to neighbors, and making dinners with the produce all at once.
I enjoyed the break I took last summer. It was refreshing not to be committed for the season. So much so, that I began to wonder if my gardening days were a fluke. A season of life that I enjoyed and then moved on from.
But then, a friend asked herself who she wanted to be later in life and it inspired me to do the same. Not what I want to be later in life, who I want to be*.*
I want to be a woman who is connected to nature, who’s aware of the seasons and notices the unfolding of a leaf or the bee nestled in a tomato flower. I want to be connected in a real, hands-in-the-dirt kind of way. And now, I feel the itch coming back. The itch to plan a garden for the summer. With my seed packets at the ready and my plot sketched out I’m beginning to dream of what I’ll grow this summer. I’m in the quiet trill of winter planning. I’m noticing which seeds I need to get started indoors, planning what we want to grow (and eat), and realizing I really want to plant friendly flowers along the walking path by our fence.
It’s fun to feel this creative project sparking to life! I’m getting excited for the work involved rather than dreading the toil of the season.
Recently a friend left me the most beautiful message and she had the perfect analogy for business life. I can only do her words justice by repeating them, “even though you appreciate the beauty of the flowers while they’re blooming, you know that the spent plants need to be pulled out at the end of a season so new seeds can be planted the next year”.
By moving into a new season, we don’t forget the beauty of what we’ve experience. We’re simply creating space for new seeds to take root.
I’ve been sensing lately that I’ve closed a chapter on my life. The last chapter of a book. And I’m readying myself for the new book of my life to begin. Perhaps I’m writing the prologue right now. I’m staring a page with a lot of scribbled fragmented thoughts. None cohesive and a few only coherent at the moment they came, quick as the wind.
I’ve created space for new seeds to be planted and I certainly feel like I’m in the winter of my garden…resting still. As an entrepreneur I’ve matured rapidly as I opened and closed 3 businesses in the course of 6 years. I’m not the same business owner who bolted forward with an idea in 2018. I’m grateful that we bring our past experience into new seasons of life. I’m grateful for seasons of expansion and seasons of contraction in my businesses. I’m grateful for the grand visions I had and the thousands of small steps that led me further on this journey.
As someone who’s experienced business evolutions multiple times, I’ve begun to notice a pattern. As I sensed that each business was shifting or that I am changing, my first step is simply noticing. I become aware of the sense that something was shifting. And eventually I began to create space for the shift to happen.
In a world that promises fix-all formulas and values 3-steps to 40K a month, this process of creating space can feel counterintuitive. Taking a step back from achieving to simply listen to my business might look weird, but I know that if I don’t have a wintering season, there can be no spring and summer.
Resting and listening to our businesses is necessary. Pulling out spent plants that once bloomed with beauty creates room for new seeds to be planted.
Are there any spent flowers in your business or life? Anything that’s ready to be removed so new seeds can be planted?
I hope your week is filled with goodness and rest my friend. I’ll talk with you soon.
Your Friend,
Ashley
What season of business or life are you in? Leave a comment below.
I loved this way of pondering who we wish to be in later life. I feel the same, as I find myself wanting to be more and more connected to nature. I found you via Leana at May We Fly. :)