I’m proud to announce that I spent zero time on my laptop this weekend and did absolutely no work. Instead I read fiction and magical non-fiction and I spent a LOT of time digging in the dirt.
Spring is in full bloom around these parts. There are new kits in the bun barn, beehives coming together in preparation for the delivery of 40,000 new little friends, and I’m collecting an average of a half a dozen eggs a day. This weekend’s focus was completing the refresh of the various beds. Two of the veggie beds, the herb bed, and the strawberry bed had already been completed, but the third tall bed was still lagging.
A big chunk of gardening is about making not food, but soil. Compost, manure, etc. I usually rely on the chickens to begin the compost process on our small amount of kitchen waste for me. Last year’s ‘big chicken shovel out ‘ had mellowed in the side yards all winter, having some things added, but mostly just cooking itself into usable earth. The buns, amenable creatures that they are, make their compost direct. This is the first year that I haven’t also had to amend my own efforts with an outside purchase. I think after the initial gardening frenzy subsides, I’ll do another ‘big shovel’ of the coop, storing shit like horded treasure in preparation for next year’s needs.
It’s interesting to me that underneath all the seeds and starts and dreams of vine ripe tomatoes and fresh greens is this substrate of… well, the poo. The rot, the shit, the blood and guts (sometimes literally – the black worm filled earth in the compost heap is sprinkled with bones from the skulls of rabbits). All the stuff we don’t want turned into the stuff we do. The dross turned into gold (almost literally, I mean have you seen the price of organic soil or compost lately?). The fact that our house has a septic tank just expands the metaphor. This is the hard work that lies underneath and supports the beneficial results. And by doing that work, we make the results better (you want major growth in your garden? add some rabbit poop).
In addition to it being spring (at least on the top half of the planet), it’s also the start of the second quarter of the year. Time to look back at what you planned for yourself this year and measure your progress. Time to adjust course as necessary and rethink what you thought was going to happen. I think a lot of people are really reticent to do this! It’s an uncomfortable process, thinking back to your plans and resolutions and ‘this year will be different I swear it!’ optimism and seeing how you have failed and what’s changed out from under you (and, if you are lucky, where you have succeeded). It can feel painful and disappointing. The irony though is that NOT reviewing and reassessing greatly increases your chances of failing. Because, even if you are doing everything right and really proud of your efforts so far, that doesn’t keep other things from changing.
You have to review and reassess your goals and process — you have to continue planning — if you are going to have more than just a ‘leave it to chance’ level of success. And this too is a process of composting. Taking the things you don’t need or can’t use and turning them into the nourishing substrate for what you will grow moving forward. It’s a powerful and healing process!
I’ve seen this in action with my inaugural Venture Incubation Arc (note, arc applications are currently closed). We all started with our venture plans and over the past few months have supported one another through various changes and shifts: refocusing, honing, adjusting to our environments, acknowledging our constraints. But instead of feeling like this is bad, we work together to compost the changes into the soil that the actual dream and desire are growing in. Which means that our ventures grow faster because we have done the hard work and dealt with the poo.
Know this. The more chaotic things are, the most important this becomes. Your agility, your ability to be nimble, adjust course, and shift focus – while still keeping your values and vision for your future in sight – is the absolutely necessary, game-changing, value add, differentiator to living. Always, but definitely right now.
If you want to learn how to do this yourself, you can learn my Circle Method (alone or as part of my Inner Circle). You can also take the first course, my Do More Magic course for free by giving the Inner Circle a try.