Waiting for the harvest of our dreams

When I started thinking about my word of the year, trust, and thinking about what that word really means to me, one thought rose almost immediately to my mind.  And that was of Tracey Clark.  I love Tracey’s blog and have been a long-time reader.  And in her I Am Enough Collaborative I find almost the purest expression of what I mean by trust when I claim it as my word.  Tracey’s collaborative is about learning, owning, and embracing the true worthiness that resides in each of us.  It is about trusting that we are, in fact, enough.  It was a distinct honor to share my story in the collaborative this past summer, and it’s one of the places in the wilds of the internet that I feel the strongest sense of identification.

Tracey’s whole blog is gorgeous.  She shares stunning photographs, writes of her daily life, both with her children and as an individual, and basically makes me both cry and smile every single time I read her.  I loved the words she shared with me about trust.  I hope you do too.

We plant Seeds. We till and mulch and water. We nurture and wait knowing that if we take proper care that the seed will grow. We trust. We are patient. The work below the surface is happening; we know it is just as it has been proven to us time and time again, without ever seeing it. We never question. We just tend to it. And wait patiently.

So what about the Seeds of our Dreams? We plant and nurture and wait. But too often we don’t trust the work that is happening under the surface. The magic can’t always be seen but that doesn’t mean it’s not happening. The waiting leads to wondering which leads to questioning and doubting. We forget that waiting is an essential part of the process.

After we plant the Seeds of our gardens there is waiting. And waiting. And we never once wonder, what if? Or Is it working? Or Will I have tomatoes red, ripe and juicy at the harvest? Of course we will. We always do. When the Seeds of our Dreams are working and growing in ways unseen by our own eyes, why do we wonder and fret that maybe our dreams won’t come into fruition? Do we not have faith in our own Dreams, our own growth process like we do in our garden?

It’s a slow process watching our fruits and vegetables gain momentum from unassuming seed, to tiny promising sprig, to thriving vine to precious new flower to budding fruit to ripe and juicy bountiful gifts. And amidst this process we carry on with our daily lives. We wash dishes and linens. We prepare our kitchen and set the table. We pour over recipes, plan our meals, and look forward to the feast. And what about our Dreams? Instead of carrying on from a place of eager anticipation of the goodness to come, we wring our hands, discount and distrust the growing process. We water one day and parch the soil the next out of fear and uncertainty. We are afraid to hope. Afraid to put our energy and work into something that might not bloom. What if our dreams don’t thrive? we worry.

What would happen if we deliberately choose to leave to questioning behind? What if it isn’t a matter of IF they will grow but rather WHEN they will grow? As our Dream Seeds begin to grow, sight unseen, what if we choose not to worry and wonder? What if we just use the waiting time to prepare?

As my recently planted Dream Seeds lay quietly sit beneath the surface of my life, they are working, silently but steadily gaining their own momentum. I am nurturing them tenderly as I know that my faithful unwavering practice will eventually lead to a harvest. There is nothing I can do to speed the process so instead, as I hold in my heart excitement for the fruition of my Dreams, as my mouth waters in anticipation of the juicy adventures that are the horizon, I will prepare. I will ready my heart and soul. I will wash the dishes and do the laundry. I will take the time to tidy my home honoring what is to come. I will wake each morning to my watering can and tend to my Dreams but I will not rush them. And I certainly will not doubt them. I will be patient and approach each day knowing that I don’t have much time to until my Dreams are ripe on the vine. I want to be ready for the harvest; to have much of the work out of the way so that when my Dreams are ready I will be too.