April is a Time to Grow

​Spring is here. It's common to think about growth during this time as many plants seem to awaken after their long winter nap. I eagerly look forward to starting my gardening and outdoor projects. I plant seeds, often without thinking much about the miracle it is for something so small to grow and produce something much greater than the simple seed it started as.

But over the years, seeds and growth and change seem to be on my mind much more than other things. It might be because I have small children and I'm watching a different kind of miracle grow. It might be because I'm intentionally living a slower-paced life where I can cultivate seeds on my small piece of land.

One thing I've noticed is that we are very similar to seeds that grow, and time is a key element in this process. Are there seeds inside of us waiting to be discovered? planted? or brought back to life again? What if there are and all we need is time to grow?

​I have a small plaque in my little girl's bedroom that says, 'Give Yourself Time To Grow'. When I think of them, I think, yes, take time to grow! Be patient with yourself as you grow and learn! But do I think that way for myself? Hardly...

I often push myself to grow faster than maybe I am meant to grow and when I stop to pause, I remind myself that growth is a process that takes time, patience, and space.

How do we balance the desire to grow with the need to take things slow and steady? As I've continued to think about growth and time, three things have helped me to grow in the past that I wanted to share.

1. Give yourself good soil

​Take the time to create an environment that will allow you to grow. Organize a workspace; get outside more often. Do you learn better with others? Make the effort to prepare yourself to learn and grow. I've learned that I'm more productive when I've prepared myself for whatever task or project I need to handle, the same goes for learning.

As well as preparing a physical space for growth, you can prepare your mind to grow. Create a growth mindset. Be open to opportunities around you to learn. Sometimes things come up that we don't expect but if we have an open mind we can recognize opportunities when they present themselves.

2. Create space to learn with and without time restrictions

​There are two ways to look at time; as a motivator or as a restrictor. When it comes to learning both of these perspectives can help us in the process. There are times when we need to give ourselves deadlines or parameters to learn or do something new. There are other times when allowing ourselves the freedom of exploration without time gives us the room we need to grow.

What is it you want to learn? Think about your circumstances and be realistic with the pace of your learning. With my current art business, I'm constantly reminding myself that right now I'm slow learning and growing phase. I have young kids so although I have high expectations and goals, I also know at this moment I can't pursue things as fast as I could when I was single and had a full-time career. It's just a different pace.

Even seeds need different spacing between other seeds. Some can be right next to each other and bloom in a short period, and others need lots of spacing and lots of time to grow. Think about your seeds and what kind of space they need to grow.

3. Allow yourself time to fail.
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I'll admit, I'm pretty terrible at this. I have a very perfectionistic personality and I have a major fear of failure. However, I'm trying to get better at this. With my art practice, I started intentionally making 'bad art' as I experimented with different and new materials. It allows me to see what will and what won't work and I've learned that I have to fail to grow. Even though it often feels like a waste of time, energy, and resources at the moment, it is not. In the longer perspective, you still gain knowledge, and knowledge of any kind is growth.

I've had many plant failures as a gardener and I've learned that not every seed that I plant will grow. When this happens I ask myself why? what happened? I learn what to change or do better the next time I go plant those seeds.

As you think about how and where you want to grow in your life, whether it will be in personal transformations or career advances, allow yourself time and space to grow. Growth takes time because it is a journey and we should revel in the journey. Let your seeds of growth develop at their own pace, be it slow or fast. Let them blossom into the beautiful flowers they are destined to be.

It is a gift to have 'Time to Grow'.