Gardening for the Mind

How New Experiences Foster Growth

I saw this Matt Groening comic online this week and it stopped me in my tracks. It is a perfect visualization of a mindset I can fall into if I’m not careful. It's a brilliantly sardonic take on the futility of chasing success. The rabbit's deadpan expression says it all: sometimes, life can feel like a Sisyphean struggle, whether we're riding high or stuck in a rut. 📈📉🐰

But what if true fulfillment lies beyond the ups and downs of external validation? What if growth and meaning come from embracing challenges, learning new things, and nurturing the world around us? 🌱

That's the spirit I'm trying to channel these days. Case in point: Because I’m currently rehearsing for my role in Groundhog Day: The Musical, I’ve recently started taking voice lessons, and let me tell you, it's been a humbling experience. I’ve been singing in some capacity since joining The Little Singers of Greater Boston as a first grader, and felt like I had a pretty good handle on how to do so. Zoinks was I wrong! Turns out, rewiring decades-old habits of speech and singing is no small feat! 🎤😅 When it comes to singing “correctly”, I am a complete novice! But there's something exhilarating about being a beginner again, about letting go of ego and embracing the discomfort of growth.

I'm also reminded that true flourishing is always interwoven with the well-being of our communities and our planet. That's why I'm so excited to be working with a fabulous team of colleagues to facilitate "Nourish through Nature", a Steep Week program for middle school students.

This immersive, hands-on program is all about empowering students to be agents of change for sustainability and ecological balance. We've been visiting local gardens in Maine and on the North Shore, not just to admire their beauty, but to learn about climate-resilient design and biodiversity. 🌿🦋 Back on campus, we’ve been channeling that inspiration into designing our own eco-friendly gardens, putting design thinking principles into practice. It's all about showing students that their creativity and concern for the planet can translate into real, tangible impact. 

As I reflect on all these experiences - from the personal to the planetary - I'm struck by a common thread. Growth, it seems, is less about chasing some elusive pinnacle of success, and more about showing up each day with curiosity, humility, and a willingness to do the work. It's about finding joy and meaning in the process, not just the destination. 

So here's to embracing new challenges, to being beginners and lifelong learners. Here's to nurturing ourselves, our communities, and the incredible ecosystems that sustain us all.

I'd love to hear from you: what new growth adventures are you embarking on these days? What's inspiring you to stretch and flourish? Let me know in the comments! 💬

Until next time, keep growing, keep greening, and keep finding the humor in this wild, wonderful life. 😊🌿