Haiku on coaching NLP practitioners

New practitioners
You know don’t you you’re al(l)ways
More than you think now

Veg Talk(2)

Well – the Great Garden and Vegetable Growing Adventure continues. And with it, so does my learning. A label fell out of one of my seed trays and what I’d happily thought were leeks (and I had been a bit perturbed that they looked nothing like the picture of young leek seedlings on the packet) turned out to be spinach.

Now, the great thing is that whatever label I’d given them, they knew exactly what they were about and what they should do. These little seeds – clever things – are not at all constrained by the labels other people give them – they just set out to be the best of whatever it is they’re designed to be.

And, now that the weather and soil are both warmer I’ve transplanted some of my seedlings into raised beds. I was somewhat nervous of doing this at first – on the one hand, I knew they would soon outgrow their little seed trays and need more room – and nutrients – to develop to their full potential. But were they ready? Were they hardy enough? Was I using them outside of their comfort zone, so to speak, too soon?

There was, of course, only one way to find out.

‘All the concepts about stepping out of your comfort zone mean nothing until you decide that your essential purpose, vision and goals are more important than your self-imposed limitations ‘~ Robert White

Veg Talk

A little over five years ago I mentioned to someone that I wanted to find a gardener to help me reclaim the wilderness that was fast becoming my garden.

Five years and a couple of false starts later the transformation is still a work in progress and, quite literally, bearing fruit. And some friends and family received Christmas gifts that bore witness to this.

A couple of weeks ago I Took the Next Step. I planted some veg seeds in seedling trays, labelled them carefully, placed them lovingly in what passes for my greenhouse and have been watering them at what I hope are regular enough intervals. Each time I do, I look for changes, for some sign of growth. With supreme effort of will I have not rooted around in what appears to be inactive soil. I have not added more seeds. I’ve just kept watering them and checking they’re warm enough. And a little bit of me has been losing hope – surely if they were going to do anything they’d have done it by now?

I was away over the weekend – so just had to let them be.

And today am ridiculously happy because some of my ‘speedy salad’ is sprouting. I have one beet plant that’s proud to show its face (I’m hoping the others will follow). The tomatoes, leeks and other veg have yet to show but I have renewed hope and a realisation that not everything will develop at the same time, and maybe not everything will develop. And some of them will – now that I’ve planted the seeds, am nurturing them appropriately and resisting the temptation to interfere.

And none of this would have happened if I hadn’t mentioned to someone that I had a vision of how things could be different – and took action. Oh, and a whole lot more besides – but you’d already worked that out for yourself, hadn’t you?

Dreams are the seeds of change. Nothing ever grows without a seed, and nothing ever changes without a dream.

Debby Boone

April Fool

Why wait till today

To wonder what’s real and what’s not?

Wise fools always know.