GROWTH (Read & Reflect #20)

pausing to notice incremental growth.

Apr 20, 2023

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.