Harvest time
While journaling this morning, I got to writing about how squash is a metaphor for life. Which leads me, naturally, to this week’s journal prompt for you.
As you know, it’s Harvest time. Except I’m a city girl, so my idea of a “harvest” is going to the grocery and picking a pumpkin from the produce aisle.
But my partner and I also have a tiny plot in a community garden where we grow vegetables and herbs. And by “we” I mean he. I haven’t actually seen our garden since last May. I just like to talk about it and buy beautiful coffee table books about organic gardening.
The other day, he comes home with a huge, fully-formed acorn squash. It’s gorgeous – deep green and glossy, the size of a football. I’m blown away. He grew that. From a seed! (city girl, remember?)
And it seemed to come out of nowhere – this ripe, full-grown squash. Except I know he’s been tending to it daily since he planted it in June.
It made me realize how much life is like that squash. What we experience today is really the harvest of last season’s planting.
Any situation in your present life is there because of what you started doing (or not doing) six months ago. Your job, your relationships, your creative projects, your home, your health.
Our dreams do not spring forth into our lives, fully-formed, any more than that squash appeared in my kitchen. This is good news. It means our dreams will grow if we plant them ahead of time, water them daily. Tend to them consistently, over and over, day in and day out.
Try these journal prompts
- What do you want to harvest next season?
- Where do you want to be in 3 or 4 months, and what do you need to plant today to make that happen?
- What tiny seed of a dream can you tuck into the plot of your life this afternoon, so it will be ready for harvest this winter?
It’s easy to get caught up in survival mode or crisis management. We’re so busy, there’s so much on our plates. We become reactionary, just putting our whatever fire is ablaze before us.
But if we stop and consciously think about the type of harvest we’d like to bring in, we can square away a tiny plot of time today to sew seeds for next season.
Squash don’t grow overnight. And neither do dreams.
So what do you want to plant today?
Let’s get started.
