Today I planted some snow peas. (Don’t hate me Canadian friends.) There is something so life-giving (pun intended) about starting plants from seeds. Since we are building a commercial venue at The Cedars we have had many landscapers out working. They are creating incredible gardens and I’m so grateful. I’ve missed gardening myself though.  

I still get to enjoy the plants that the team has put in so why does it matter? 

The process of gardening is a stress reducer. My brain is focused on easy decisions for a while. (Where will I place this next seed? Where will I point the spray from the garden hose now?) That gives my brain a break from thinking about budget numbers, business plan presentation wording, etc. 

Gardening, planting seeds, reminds me of a miracle. I take a dried out seed I rescued off a dead vine in my garden six months ago, stick it in mud and water it and it will start a whole new plant with many many snow peas! Wow. That’s wild! 

I can’t wait until the first signs of it actually working show up! Little hints of a leaf that doesn’t look like a weed. 

The growth is going on for quite a while in that seed before I see anything. The seed has to soften. The message has to trigger that the conditions are right, safe, to germinate. That new growth has to “see” through the mud to know which way is up and start growing in that direction. Amazing. 

I have to keep watering it during that time without evidence that growth is happening. If I let those seeds dry up, whatever was starting to grow will stop. 

So, you know where I’m going right?  

Coaching and gardening have many parallels. Leadership, mentoring, supervising all have parallels with gardening. 

Sometimes we give up because we feel like we have been pouring in to someone with no results. Some seeds are so hard they need to soak for a while before they even think of germinating. Some seeds needed to get tough to survive. Just like some people. 

Who in your life would you like to be nurturing growth in right now? 

Who have you forgotten to water lately? 

How about you? Are you so busy doing and caring for others that you haven’t put yourself in to places and relationships that are rich and nourishing for you? 

You might not live where you can put seeds in to the ground right now but you do live where you can choose to nourish a human being near you.  

Until next week, 

Marilyn