What to do When You’re Thrown for a Loop

*I don’t usually do this, but after the wonderful comments from many of you, I want to share last week’s newsletter with everyone here.  If you’re not on the newsletter, you can sign up here.  But a heads up: when you subscribe, I consider you a friend.  I share things honestly and vulnerably all in the name of growth, beauty, joy and nourishment.  So, if you want more of that in your life, please join.  If you’re not sure, that’s okay.  Keep reading, sharing, and growing.  Just know that what I write on the newsletter typically stays there as special content.

Oh I can’t tell you how happy I am that the leaves have finally burst open and the hillsides are lush with green again.

With so many cool days and cold nights, I was starting to become skeptical that spring would ever really take hold.  And I’m not a naturally skeptical person. Thankfully the green (and my optimism) are back.

What about you?  In conversations with friends, it seems I’m not the only one who’s been thrown for a loop (or a few) this spring.  Are you feeling the same?

Some of those loops are meteorological, some are relational, others are in the business realm, and still others come with the territory of being a parent to a 3 year old (or as he would correct me, a 3 and 3/4 year-old).

Loops.  I don’t mind coming back to the beginning, but it’s the sensation of being thrown backwards and upside-down that I could really do without.  To be honest, I’m exhausted.

In the midst of it all, I’m looking for the lessons.

And each time I come back to the simple: to sowing seeds, watering seedlings, working the hoe down garden pathways.

These things may not fix every aspect of a particular loop, but they bring me back to center.  They ground me and remind me to return to my roots when the winds blow me off track.

Working with the soil teaches me over and over of the rhythm of growth, and in that rhythm I find a way to keep growing, too.

Whatever loops you’ve been thrown, remember this: growth depends on death. Compost isn’t made from living plants—it’s created from the things we let go of, the things we discard, the things that no longer serve the garden (or us).  And all of those things decompose and turn into rich soil.

But we have to let go of them first.  

We have to haul the wheelbarrow, heavy with all the scraps, and dump it in the pile.  We have to walk away and give it time to break down.  And when we return, we have to turn and tend to it.

If this sounds like too much, you might be at the top of the loop, still hanging upside down.  I know, I’ve just recently been there.  But nothing stays the same forever.  Movement is the rule, not the exception.  You’ll come down, find your feet and start moving forward again.

Go outside, plant a seed, cover your hands with soil.  

If you’re not sure what to plant, let me suggest lettuce.

Because lettuce’s natural bitterness helps cleanse our bodies.

And because lettuce sounds like “let us” and as you plant each seed you can say a little prayer:
let us eat well or
let us grow peace or
let us sleep in and be surprised by breakfast in bed ; )

Whatever little prayer you need, I’ve shared my favorite lettuce varieties for spring, summer and fall, along with helpful tips on growing lettuce, in the post “Grow Great Lettuce”

I wish you a very restful weekend, full of soil and seeds and no loops.

~Kate