February is seedling season here on La Belle Farm. My husband, Dr. Thompson and I get out the racks from The Drying Room and drag them over to the sunroom. He puts up grow lights and trays of soil where he has planted seeds. And then, they begin to grow--as you can see here.
But, you can't tell what these are really, can you?
Okay, maybe if you live on a farm or you're a seasoned gardener, you know what these are. Not me, I didn't know much about gardening until we moved here to the Hudson Valley in 2015. I had a lot to learn!
So what are these little green shoots?
These are leeks!
But, don't they look like grass? Don't they seem really inconsequential and unimportant and even pitiful. Honestly, if you saw this in your garden, might you not be tempted to assume it's just grass growing in the wrong place, and pull them up and toss them?
Over the years, I've come to learn that our creative endeavors are a lot like seedlings. When we first plant an idea--a drawing or a poem or a line of music or the first sentence of a novel--don't we think--well, this is nothing!
But then, little by little, it grows. You are patience. You water your idea, you give it sunshine. Maybe you even talk to it. Perhaps you play music to inspire your idea.
And voila! It grows. And it begins to look like something. You're not sure what, but it definitely looks like something. And this is the most delicate part of all, because you may be tempted to decide what this thing is and it is not. You may be tempted to prune it, weed it, transplant it.
I would suggest this: be patient. Be kind. Treat your idea like a seedling that has knowledge beyond your knowing. Somewhere in the richness of the dark and fertile earth, it keeps the secret of its own becoming. Your job is to simple listen and trust.
And that's your creative prompt for the week. Coax your ideas into the sunlight. Give it some water. Play music. Resist the urge to name what this thing is and is not. But rather, simply allow it to live in that place of mystery.
Oh, and have fun!
Love,
Jamie
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