The BOLD (How Does Your Garden Grow?)
When I read the quote above, it occurred to me that, being of Scottish descent, I love thistles. However, they can wreak havoc on the landscape. I suppose that is the point. Sometimes beautiful things aren’t the best things for us to keep.
Today, We’re tackling the thorny issue of pruning (see what I did there?). Pruning is a form of nurture that isn’t always received as nurturing in the moment but that is necessary for real growth.
What will you keep and what will you prune? It depends on what you want to grow and how you want to grow it.
The Whisper (Something’s Got to Give)
Ask a gardener. In the early spring, when the world looks like it will rest in perpetual greyness, a gardener retrieves a flat of little compartments from the shed. Loamy, rich potting soil is spooned into the little divots and smoothed gently into a flat surface. Two or three seeds are dropped, thumbprint by thumbprint, into each square and covered over.
A few weeks later, nearly transparent shoots push aside the crumbs of soil and stretch upwards. In most of the compartments, only one seed has germinated. In a few, however, there are two or even three competitors.
There comes a day when the gardener must choose. With sharp scissors, the weaker stems are eliminated, leaving the strongest plant to benefit from unfettered access to the nutrients in the soil.
As the weeks pass, the gardener continues to nourish the plant with water and sunlight. The gardener also continues to prune. Leaves blighted with dark spots are removed. Branches that cross to close to the main stem are sacrificed. Perhaps a less robust flower is eliminated to give more resources to the flower that shows more promise. One fruit is favored over another.
Pruning is Key for Maximum Crop Yield
Over and over, the gardener makes a series of decisions about how resources will be allocated and about which opportunity shows more promise.
It is tempting to think of nurture as a narrow list of actions that bring rest and nutrition. A good night’s sleep is nurturing. A healthy plate of vegetables in nourishing.
Nurture is also accomplished with sacrifice, elimination, and editing. You can be equally nurtured by what you do and by what you cease doing.
Turning off the blue lights an hour before bed is nurturing. Limiting less helpful foods is nourishing.
Coco Chanel said, “Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take at least one thing off.” Editing is the soul of style. We can style our lives in the same manner.
Pruning is most effective when the elimination of an activity, commitment or object creates a direct stream of energy, focus or resource to a more fruitful opportunity.
For instance:
- Re-Allocate Funds: Eliminate cookies from the shopping list and dedicate the liberated funds to a savings account for an enriching experience you’re hoping to fund.
- Clear Space: Declutter a shelf or file drawer to signal room for new adventures and new learning.
- Re-dedicate time: Remove one TV show from your must-watch list and replace it with an online course to grow your knowledge or a walk in the park to increase your stamina.
You know what you need to prune. Do you have the courage to snip? You can draw your courage from a firm commitment to the part of your life that will directly benefit from the boost in nutrients and the extra wash of sunlight.
Let me know what you cut and how you use the liberated time, energy, resources, focus or space to grow your boldest possible life.
Leave a Reply