Hello!
I’m on vacation from my part-time job this week and so I am off my regular routine—hence the late newsletter. I can’t believe this is my 20th Wednesday post! I think there’s power in checking in with ourselves about why we do the things we do, and after hitting this milestone, I plan on pausing and taking stock about what I want this newsletter to look like going forward. I still plan on writing—just giving you a heads-up in case you see some shifts!
Anyways-in the spirit of today’s newsletter, I want to urge you to check out Wild and Precious on Audible. If you love Mary Oliver, or just love nature, or are just a human, you need to devote a few hours of your life to listening to it. If you’ve listened, let me know what you think!
Baby leaves. It took a pandemic to realize their existence.
Before Spring 2020, I never questioned how a powerful oak transitioned from nakedness into an outfit meant for the Met Gala.
It seems comical in retrospect. Did I think the leaf fairy flew around every year and meticulously adorned each tree?
Without the pandemic relegating me to teaching from my living room, I’m not sure I would have ever slowed down enough to notice the incremental growth of foliage.
This discovery was a sliding doors moment. I couldn’t imagine leading a life that didn’t grant me the space to appreciate baby leaves.
3 years later, I carefully watch the world around me awaken from its wintery slumber after honoring my pledge to live a life that affords that space to do so. It’s magical and awe-inspiring. Each plant taps into the resources around it and works tirelessly to bloom; each continues to grow despite less-than-optimal conditions.
As I looked at the trees this morning, I took a second to think of my own growth.
It’s not something that I do often. I have a penchant for being restless–always on the quest for the next thing. I’m often reluctant to give myself a pat on the back until a goal is met or an idea is fully birthed–but that’s the equivalent of believing in the leaf fairy.
My appreciation for the shade of a tree on a hot day runs so much deeper after noticing how hard those leaves worked to grow.
I want to afford myself that same appreciation.
I want to start taking note of my incremental growth.
I don’t have a fairy.
I only have me.
My growth is my own.
How are you different from the person you were this time last year?
What parts of your own growth can you claim?
»»Celebrate spring by checking out my journal Lessons from Nature.
»»Let’s continue to connect! You can follow me on Instagram. Say hello!
»»Have ideas for what you’d like to see more or less of? Want to chat? Reach out.
Cross posted this gem. I’m bedazzled with oak tree’s majesty
I cancelled audible a while back, but that book looks so good! Cheers to watching the leaves bloom and honoring your own growth 💚