009E – Start with a Seed

I love new beginnings, and I'm a big fan of hitting the Restart button at any time. But sometimes we wonder if what we're doing right now is good enough. Is it the right idea or should we be working on something else?

Then I'm reminded of the mustard seed, a tiny seed that can grow large enough that birds of the air nest in its branches. That's encouraging! Until I think about how seeds have to be buried alone in the dark, damp ground, and how the seeds are destroyed by the earth. Not encouraging – if you look at only that moment in time.

But our lives are not a series of moments in time; all of those moments are making up a bigger whole. Sure, a seed gets destroyed – that is, loses its original form – in order for a plant to grow, but in the big picture that's the whole point!

Similarly, our lives and our writing have these seed-moments. We start with a first draft, and then we start editing it, taking it apart, adding and deleting. It's not destroying the first draft so much as it's creating something new and better.

So don't be afraid to start with a new seed of an idea. Work with it and let it grow – and see what amazing things might happen!