Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Of Blooming and Planting

Last October, Louisiana Neighbor (my garden muse and educator in all things "Southeren") delivered to me a small white plastic bag of nondescript roots, with the simple instruction:

Just stick them in the ground--anywhere--and see what happens.

I stuck a dozen bulbs in the ground, mostly along the front edge of my front flower bed, and forgot about them.

This past weekend, as I left my front door on the way to church, a splash of red caught my eye beneath the tangle of jasmine vine creeping up the brick to my left. One of the spider lilies bloomed!

Of course I immediately spun around to examine the planting locations of the other eleven bulbs. Nothing.

But ONE has bloomed. And it continues to bring such joy to my heart, even if it only remains for a handful of days.


Freelance writing bears some resemblance to these lily bulbs. One can nurture a dozen ideas and submit them to the world for validation publication. Maybe one will survive all the weather, soil and watering conditions and grow to maturity.

For in the moment that one idea blooms, the writer receives validation, and inspiration to plant more ideas. Each bloom brings the writer one step closer to becoming an author.

After delivering a five-part Bible study series on Judges to an editor a few weeks ago, I have been encouraged to find a few more bulbs and stick them in the ground. Just to see what happens.

Where are you in the writing process? Have you collected any bulbs? Found a flower bed in which to plant them? Have you stuck them in the ground? Or perhaps you have received blooms to inspire you? Keep at it!

On today's to-do list, I will plant another bulb. Share with me, what is your next step?

3 comments:

  1. So exciting! Sometimes it's those little steps that mean the most - because usually it's the journey that brings you satisfaction, not just the end result.

    Following from Blog Frog

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  2. Good question! I've been doing some planting, too. Taking risks by planting in unexpected places. Cultivating some new ground. Harvesting in a few places, too. :-)

    I like what you plant here. Your words bloom.

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  3. I always love a good metaphor, and you've got a good one going here! Next steps for me? Not sure. Just turned in my monthly newspaper column, so I am having a breather for a day or two!

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