Buried Seeds
Have you ever worked hard on something for a long time, and then didn’t even realize you had accomplished what you had actually accomplished? I have been thinking a lot about creative development and rediscovery of the seeds we’ve planted. Working on things that we will finish days, weeks, months, or even years later is like burying seeds in the soil and then watering it and giving it light. In every great work, the roots are grown first before the sprout. Even as the sprout comes out of the earth into the direct light, the roots are growing far more than the sprout is. We don’t see what our work is doing until later, and it doesn’t become a tree until the roots are established and are strong enough to hold up the tree.
In every great work, the roots are grown first before the sprout.
I had a great example of this creative development and rediscovery recently with some of the work I was doing for my music business/ministry. I had been feeling like I needed to write some posts to release through my blog for a while now and I felt that I was a long way off from accomplishing being ready to send out anything. I had been writing but had not been keeping track of much of what I had been writing. Much of it was just notes on music, business, health, and other stuff so I had assumed that I had nothing to share that was written and finished, and that I would have to write more to get it ready. But I decided to go back and organize my notebooks to see what I had and get them typed up to have a digital copy of my notes.
I tend to have a little bit of selective memory as it is, but especially when there are things that have to do with the value I have or that I am trying to give to the world. A bit of the common impostor syndrome I guess. I believe, help my unbelief. Ha! Ha! But I was a little surprised by how selective I had been in this case.
First, I did not know that I had literally 20 notebooks full of notes sitting around my house even after having gone through some and throwing some out a few years ago. So that was weird enough. But I was also surprised to find that much of my notes were things I had written that seemed like they would be really helpful ideas that could make a real difference in people’s lives if they applied the ideas in them. These things were a lot of the essential tips that I had learned that had made a huge difference in my life when I learned to apply them to my own life. As I went through the notes I thought more and more, “How did I not know I had done this?”
It had been under the soil of my selective memory.
After a couple of weeks of going through notebooks and tearing out pages and organizing them into binders, it turns out that I had: over 200 inspirational quotes with comments I had written about them that I had collected which had drastically helped change my perspective on life. I had been using them in support groups when I worked as a mental health support specialist. I had also found over 20 finished articles, 10 lists of ideas for writings that I had collected and had added to, other hobby lists, and around one hundred questions I made up that I had used in support groups. I had hundreds of pages of notes on the music business and many other writings that could potentially be used for posts to help people. After organizing (it took three days), I began typing. I now have fifteen articles typed up already just needing final touch editing. You never know what is under the soil until it sprouts or you do a little digging.
You never know what is under the soil until it sprouts or you do a little digging.
I was swamped in good material and didn’t even know it. It was all under the soil. I only had a vague idea that there could be a little there. What a surprise!
What have you buried?
What have you buried? Where are your seeds? You probably have buried something, maybe a ton of stuff. If you have been watering your own spirit and giving it light, then the potential for your seeds probably has been growing. But have you weeded? Given fertilizer? Without clearing away the other stuff and maybe replanting a little you will not know what is growing and it will not have as much chance of growing the way you want it to. Get your seed into the best light for it.
Get your seed into the best light for it.
But remember, it is more than you see. It is also, what is growing inside you and inside those that you have touched. Those Heart-Contacts will eventually get stronger roots and will sprout and grow into a great tree if you stick with it. Matthew 13:31-32 says, “He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”
Those Heart-Contacts will eventually get stronger
Keep watering, weeding, fertilizing, and getting your work into the light. Then you will know better what to plant next and what you already have plenty of growing. Gardening is more than just planting seeds. Life is the same. Rediscovery and creative development of our work is vital in making progress.
Rediscovery and creative development of our work is vital in making progress.
As I am finishing editing this it is 8 months into a pandemic which has been hard but has given me many ways to review and analyze my life and my goals. I am excited about the new possibilities which I would not have seen had I not been forced into this time of reflection through a lot of my music gigs drying up.
I was not very prepared for this difficulty, or for the stress of disease lurking around every corner. But, I believe our attitude in relation to any struggle can make it a much greater or much lesser struggle depending on how we think about it. This reflection has given me new hope even amidst great difficulty. I want to encourage everyone to reflect with a hopeful attitude and see what new possibilities they can find. I think it is in Japan that the word for crisis and the word for opportunity are the same words.
I believe our attitude in relation to any struggle can make it a much greater or much lesser struggle depending on how we think about it.
Keep working on creative development and rediscovery and thanks for reflecting on this with me. I appreciate your interest in my work and hope it has been helpful to you. If you would like to listen to something new to you there are a few of my previously buried seeds that have sprouted into an album called “Little Miracles” of classical guitar improvisation. It is available for any price (even free) at my Bandcamp store at the link below. I hope you love it! And I hope your garden grows to be more fruitful than you ever imagined!
“Little Miracles” Album Link:
Many Blessings to you!
David Michael Cray (Crayfish)
Classical Guitarist/Poet/Sound Engineer/Multi-instrumentalist/Devoted Husband/Dog lover/Crayfish Enthusiast
Temples of the Spirit Productions
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