Monday, August 12, 2013

Motivational Monday


WHATEVER OUR DREAMS, IDEAS, OR PROJECTS,
WE PLANT A SEED, NURTURE IT - AND THEN
REAP THE FRUITS OF OUR LABORS.
(Oprah Winfrey)

I grew up in the city. I played out on the front stoop or in the driveway. We didn't have a backyard - we had a patch of dirt bordered on one side by the neighbor's fence and on the  other side by our garage. 

And yet, my Dad and my Pop Pop managed to grow a garden. I remember string beans. I remember tomatoes. But my favorite "crop" was the sunflowers. Those plants grew like they'd been waiting their whole lives for their seeds to be put into that Brooklyn dirt. Sturdy green stems stretched high above the fence and the garage. Their leaves reached out to each other, to my sister and me, offering shade and shadow. Their faces tilted up toward the sun, basking in the warmth. Air ruffled their petals and set the flowers to swaying and dipping and dancing, even as their roots held them solidly, happily in place.   

Now, even though I can barely keep an artificial plant going, I still tend a garden, one with crops important to me. I plant the seeds of my dreams, my goals, my wishes, my plans. I dig and I water, I nurture and I wait. I think back to that patch of dirt, to those different seeds in that rough soil, and to the strength and the beauty that not only grew but thrived in that unexpected place. And I keep the faith. I believe.

24 comments:

  1. That was very beautiful.
    And I bet our plastic plants need dusting...

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    1. Thank you, Alex.

      And thanks for the reminder to dust our plants, too.... :)

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  2. Yeah, my green thumb is entirely imaginary--I do GREAT with those idea seeds, not so much with the real sort. My primary problem with the outdoor kind is attention span... I just don't have the stamina for something I don't love, but I love the stories.

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    1. I tend to forget about the outside plants. I do better, though not great, with the inside ones.

      I love the idea of growing stories and having the patience to tend them - seeds, sprouts, full grown plants/stories. :)

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  3. This was a nice analog.

    Artificial plants need love too. They make that spray to help keep them clean.

    I'm growing something for the first time ever. Me and my youngest son planted pumpkins I had no idea what I was in for. Holy cow.

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    1. Pumpkins will come in handy in a couple of months - jack-o-lanterns, anyone? :)

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  4. I love this post, Madeline. It hit home with me.

    I grew up in the city, too. We moved around a lot, but my mom always had a flower garden. My brothers and sisters inherited Mom's green thumb, but not me. I've always felt guilty about killing plants, but now I don't feel so guilty about the my story-plants.

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    1. Thank you, Donna.

      And I definitely don't want to kill my story-plants! Hmm, I don't think they need sun and water as much as they need chocolate, cheese and lots of good, scary movies. :)

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  5. What a gorgeous, gorgeous post! I could SEE the sunflowers. This prose was just stunning, really.

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    1. Thank you so much!

      I wish I had actual pictures of the sunflowers, but I'm happy with the ones in my mind, and I'm so glad I was able to put them down on the "page" for you.

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  6. Little by little, day by day. That's how it grows! Great post!

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    1. Word by word, sentence by sentence... that's how a story grows. :)

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  7. Some of my fondest memories are helping my papaw in the garden with his tomato plants. Good times and beautiful memories that you brought back :)

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    1. That sounds nice! I'm glad you got reminded of that today. :)

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  8. I love sunflowers. Such a happy plant.

    I use to put fake flowers in our front yard. Every year on Easter Eve the barrels out front would mysteriously bloom into full grown flowers.

    This was a great post.

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    1. Thanks, Jai.

      We have plastic trees in our courtyard because we got tired of killing all the live ones we bought!

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  9. I'm all warm and fuzzy now. =)

    We had a HUGE garden growing up, and my area to maintain was the carrot patch. Loves me some carrots! Still, weeding? I may have burned out. Part of me longs for a garden, but just weeding the flower bed out front is almost enough to kill me while chasing after kids. Retirement, eh?

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    1. I love the idea of a garden or flowers but In reality, well, I think I'll hold off for now. :)

      Carrots - yum! As long as there's butter involved.

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  10. I agree with everyone else, this is a beautiful post! Love the analogy. :)

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  11. That reminds me of the sunflowers my grandmother grew in Brooklyn. I can still smell them and they grew so tall! Thanks for the memories Madeline.

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    1. I'm glad this post brought back good memories for you! I wonder if it was something in the Brooklyn soil.... :)

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  12. I really love Oprah. That woman has such a great story. Love this post! Always love some inpiration!

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    1. The quote was from an issue of O magazine and it just really spoke to me, like so many of her quotes do. :)

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