My friends, September has arrived and soon the air will turn crisp, and shadows grow longer. It was a good summer, and we still have some warm days ahead before Autumn is completely settled in.
This time of year, I like to make stews or a pot of beans seasoned with various herbs from the garden. I break down all the dried herbs from the summer and place them in jars. Divide my oils and tinctures into bottles of all sizes and I plan to give some as gifts this year. It is a busy time, and you can notice the last burst of energy going into every leaf and flower. We have a good harvest this year and I am very grateful. What I have gathered and prepared will be my go-to herbs for the cold and flu season, the busy holidays, and all other sorts of demanding situations. My “medicine cabinet” is almost ready.
My goals every year are to learn more about plants and try new techniques, always be open to learning something new, right? And if I were to look back, I would see that I have come along way from where I started. Still, so much more to learn and every new season gives me the opportunity to do better. And all this started with just one seed planted in hopeful ground.
When I was in sixth grade I tried out for the cheerleading team. I went to a very small private school K-12, and so it was the junior and senior cheerleaders that taught us newbies. My goal was to be like them. To get to high school with all the seniority and experience. Their confidence was what got my attention the most. I wanted to have that! But I couldn’t just skip to the end. I would have to go through the remaining five years to get there if that was going to happen. This is just a small example of how cycles of plant-nurture-harvest-rest occur ALL the time and in all manner of circumstances in our life. Any prize that you hope to obtain comes with a process.
This is the time of year where we look at the harvest of our labor over the past few months. Did we get a favorable outcome? Have we done what was necessary to grow our ideas into a blooming flower, full of opportunity and promise?
Harvesting takes time and patience. To reach any goal takes time and patience. In fact, timing is everything. Say you were going for a ten-mile hike. You are rested and ready to go. If you were to charge into the first couple of miles headstrong, you would lose momentum eventually and still have eight more miles to go. You must pace yourself because at some point the road may get rough. At some point you might come across terrain that you haven’t dealt with before. It is the steps of preparing and taking the time to do it right that can make all the difference in the world.
During this harvest time, look at our progress. Have we stayed aligned with the seed we planted? Have our desires been measured by principle to promote balance and harmony? Have we encouraged our goals to manifest by putting in the work it takes? The results, one way or the other, will reveal the answer.
So, here’s to a bountiful harvest season for everyone! Whether it be in the fields and gardens or those seeds of personal fulfillment we have planted. Remember every seed planted takes time to mature until it is ready to be used. And with work, planning, a bit of sweat, and a lot of humility we can finally take a moment to put up our feet, sit back and enjoy what we have been waiting for. Harvest is the horizon we strive to reach. It is the glow from the lights of our dream just over the hill. And it is worth every step till we get there.