Growing

Making things grow is my lifelong calling.

"Grow" is a garden. A tree. Love.
A thing that holds the flow of energy.
To grow means to be...
Alive.

There is no stasis.

I was speaking with a friend the other day about the importance of jumping with both feet into the world of "try." So we want to be artists, poets, photographers, writers? Let's take some steps.

Step 1: Name it.

"I want to be a  _______ ."
(Poet. Artist. Preacher. World Traveler. Endless-Possibility-Et-Cetera.)

Step 2: Live it

That means you have to try. You have to start it, even if it starts poorly. You have to risk being perfectly awful at it. Don't do it for perfection; do it for desire. Desire it every day. You will grow. And growing is messy, unruly, chaotic. That's okay. It's still movement.

Step 3: Believe

"I am a  _______ ."
(Poet. Artist. Preacher. World Traveler. Endless-Possibility-Et-Cetera.)

Step 4: Arrive?

Big old "NOPE." It's not about destination. It's not another Babel to build. It's about organic growth; expanding, exploring, flourishing. Change is going to happen. Change is the riskiest of all, and also the most rewarding.

Break through that resistance that says you need to know a little more first, do a little more first, have one more person approve of your ideas first. The best thing to do is begin. The next thing to do is the next thing. One foot in front of the other, even when you find yourself on uneven ground, stumbling under the weight of one thousand excuses. Give up the excuses. See if they can still thrive when you do not cherish them.

Instead of "arrive" let's try this word: Cultivate.

Tend your dreams as you'd tend a garden upon which your sustenance depends. Don't give up when the weeds look like they are taking over. Breathe deep and invest yourself fully into coaxing forth life.

And let the process amaze you.