Plants and Productivity

Posted by Catherine | December 12, 2009 | 11 Comments

tomato “If unmistakable personal revelation comes that we need to move from Massachusetts to Arizona, I’ll do it,” I told my husband five and a half years ago. Well, the revelation came and so did we. I began the slow process of planting roots here in the heat of the desert.

That first spring, I also began the literal planting of my small garden plot. But, like me, the tomatoes and peppers I planted seemed to barely survive that first long summer. In the fall (and I use that term loosely!), I pulled up my plants with discouragement, and decided to try again the next spring. Once again, the plants slugged through that second summer, barely producing much for my efforts. But that fall found me too busy to pull up the plants, so they stayed in the clay soil, and to my amazement, come Thanksgiving, they were overflowing.

Those same plants are still growing in my garden, three years later. They aren’t the prettiest looking, and in some seasons, they sit dormant, looking half-dead, but I know now that if I wait a while, give them some time and some water, they’ll produce again.

I’ve been thinking of the plants lately as I’ve both struggled and loved the last 4 months with a new baby in the house. Most days I am like those plants in the summer—not the prettiest looking and definitely not the most “productive.” I am trying to have patience that my fruitful days will return.

Tell me a little about the different seasons of your life, the different kinds of productivity, and the ebb and flow of productivity in your life. What helps you have patience with the challenges of different seasons?

Comments

11 Responses to “Plants and Productivity”

Blue
December 12th, 2009 @ 6:52 am

yesterday i flew from SLC to Boston because my husband is interested in a one-year job here next year, and wants me to decide if it would be something i could get on board with.

as i drove around the area, i talked to heavenly father out loud in the car, telling him that if this is where we should be for a year, i wanted “unmistakable personal revelation” on the matter (albeit in not quite so eloquent words).

i know sometimes life is just a matter of choosing between two good options, and that this may be one of those times. but i figure ther has GOT to have a best case scenario for us, and i just want to do whatever that is. because i’ve just come through a season of being “withered” for so long, and am finally starting to flower a bit (though i can’t say as i’ve borne fruit yet). i don’t know if the move would make me wilt or be a really good thing for me personally, and especially for my family.

i admit i fear i won’t get what i seek. that i’ll be left making a decision without knowing definitively what the optimal choice would be. so your post hit close to home for me, and i hope i, too, that personal revelation comes. this is a topic i’d love to read more about…asking for and finding answers to big questions. i’m not very good at that.

♥
Heidi
December 12th, 2009 @ 8:24 am

Thank you for this beautiful post! I’m in what seems like a very unproductive season of life. With a six-month-old and a ridiculously busy two-year-old (plus boys that are 5 and 8), my ability to accomplish anything of consequence has ground to a halt. I also battle with depression, and though I’m doing better now than I was right after my baby arrived, I still feel like a shadow of my former self. I used to measure success by how much I accomplished in a day or week (which was a lot!). Now I count the hours of sleep, the weeks without mastitis, or the days without tears.

Fortunately I have a friend who is older and wiser and counsels me on such things. She reminds me that I am sustaining the life of my nursing infant, and that my busy boy needs constant care. I’m doing hard things in my home, and in the long run it doesn’t really matter if the floor is always clean, too. Even though I begged to be released as the activities director and now contentedly sit behind the piano in Relief Society, I still contribute meaningfully at church. And I can get daily (or more frequent, if I need it) validation from the Spirit that Heavenly Father accepts my efforts and is pleased when I can find joy.
angie f
December 12th, 2009 @ 10:08 am

So much of growth measurement for me is a paradigm shift. I too came to the desert after growing up in the East. I learned that here we have two growing seasons–spring and fall–and that precious little will survive the searing heat of the summer. I have learned that there are times of great productivity in my life and times of hanging on by my fingernails where I measure progress by how recently I showered or by the height of the Mt. Laundry in my room. I have found that the life of young motherhood cannot be measured by to-do lists, but that end-of-the-day have-done lists can boost my mood. Mostly, I have learned that taking my days and weeks and months to the Lord and asking to see what He sees shows me which plants are truly flowering, which are dormant for a season and which need to be uprooted and some other direction tried. The Lord as Master Gardener is such a powerful concept for me. The pruning can be painful, but there is so much love in every step of the cultivation process. I try to tap into that love, to whisper “baby steps” when things seem at a stand still, to learn anew every day that periods of stillness, of apparent dormancy can often belie growth of the most amazing nature. “Be still and know that I am God.” The Psalm says. I find that the more I am able to give necessary time to stillness, the better I am able to be patient at the seasons before me and the directions of the Gardener.
al
December 12th, 2009 @ 2:30 pm

Heidi, #2, I could have written your response. I am at home with two little ones and all that entails.
I still try to be as productive as I was without children. I shouldn’t, but can’t seem to stop the desire. So I try to shift it. To feel as accomplished by providing clean laundry and balanced meals as I did earning a paycheck and making grades.
Similarly, I still feel the pressure to “look cute” when I’m running on no sleep and 5 minutes to get ready. Why does it still matter? Shouldn’t I just accept this season? Cognitively it doesn’t matter, but then I start feeling like a shadow of myself and the emotional tidal wave that ensues usually wins.
I could ramble for quite a while about this topic…
Thanks for this post.
Heidi
December 12th, 2009 @ 2:49 pm

Al, it’s always good to know I’m not alone!

Angie f, I love the metaphor of the gardener. I think many parallels to life can be found in a garden, which is one reason I love to plant flowers so much! Thanks for the additional insight.

And in case you didn’t know, zinnias love the Arizona heat! The state fair variety is my favorite.
Leslie
December 12th, 2009 @ 3:51 pm

Thanks catherine- great thoughts. We sometimes expect that full season of productivity all the time! As I am now in full scale new england winter those days of warmth seem impossibly far off, but i know they will come. I also know the day will come when i will drive somewhere and no one cries or screams from the backseat :>
catherine
December 12th, 2009 @ 4:14 pm

Blue, we’re on the verge of another move again and I’m doing exactly what you described, trying to forecast growth potential for me and my family in each place, plus pleading for guidance. The big questions are those that give me the most anxiety about receiving revelation.

Heidi, a priesthood blessing always helps me to get on Heavenly Father’s yardstick for measuring my efforts. There’s nothing like the feeling that comes when I realize that He is pleased with my contributions. And I always plant zinnias in the summer–they’re beautiful here!

Angie F, thank you for your beautifully written insights about the metaphor of the gardener and about the importance of stillness in life!

Al, I was just talking to my husband on our way back from an overnight trip this morning about thinking in terms of forging a new identity as a mother in order to try to stay away from feeling like a shadow of a former self.

Leslie, yes, i have to remind myself that in hindsight, this season of young motherhood will probably one day seem very short.
traci
December 13th, 2009 @ 8:00 am

For some reason I have thot about this post ALL DAY! Thank you for writing it – it has meant much to me.

Before I was married – I did a lot of volunteer work, etc now my life is very different. For awhile in our engagement and early marriage I went to school – but lo and behold, finances.

Now I am a housewife. I have dedicated my time my husband is home to him. In the daytime I mostly work on cooking, cleaning, gardening, skills and being a furry mom. I am fascinated with the science of food, since I never cooked much as a single person. I have reacted by making loads of stuff home-made! and have to live with the forever jokes of being a Stepford wife.

But to me, this is the most productive beatiful harvest I have had. I am happy. I finish projects. Life is about more than me. I have learned how to find free classes on the internet. I practice music and art daily – which I could not find time for when I wasnteaching 6 days a week.

I have had to curb many of my activities because of physical stuff, esp in the last 1 1/2 – i have had to find a way to balance my energy. This frustrated me to no end. I have learned to do the “productive” stuff in the morning and the arts and needlecraft later in the day. I have got to sit and quilt because of this, something I only dreamed about before.

This week I made arrangements to give away my organ, piano, dulcimer, fiddle, dobro and mandolin. Things I thot I would never do. But…. our finances have not allowed me to give as much as I did when I was single,(and they went to ones that would not have otherwise) our house needs to look like OURS, not mine and most importantly I have decided I wanted to focus my energy on the piano ( i kept a keyboard), banjo, guitar and learning Music Theory. For Christmas I asked for 2 books on Sacred Harp singing – singing is something I have always wanted to do more of – for my own enjoyment. I have a chance now.

Last year I read War and Peace – it talked of 2 kinds of wives – ones who dedicate everything to their husbands and ones who still pursue their own interests. I guess I want to be a mixture. And I am learning the balance – constantly.

My husband works at home sometimes, and I have been grateful that i have “quiet hobbies”. We have no tv and spend much time training one of the pups to be my handicap assist dog. I don’t know how to explain, but this is so different from my other life.

I guess what I feel is that I have done a lot of sowing – but this is the 1st time I have experienced such an abundant harvest – inside and out.

Thank you for letting me share. Segullah is a wonderful and needed part of my new life. I come here and I can sort it out and see how I really think and feel. Don’t know how I can ever thank all of you ladies!
Courtney
December 13th, 2009 @ 4:47 pm

I don’t worry too much about productivity – I’m guessing I would be more productive if I did! Two things that I think have made me more satisfied with this time of decreased productivity are 1) having a mother who frequently tells me that there are seasons of life and that I am doing exactly what I should be doing right now and 2) that I had a career before I had kids. Because of infertility I ended up working for about 5 years and had a successful career. I enjoyed it and even missed it when I stopped working. But, I sometimes think since I already had that experience I don’t have the yearning for that life anymore. It’s like I checked that off my list and now I am happy to have the different life of a SAHM for a while. Who knows where I will be or want to be as my kids get older. I’m sure I will go through periods of discontent but for now, I feel pretty productive if I get everyone to school on time!
catherine
December 13th, 2009 @ 5:09 pm

traci, thank you for sharing your experiences. The season of life that I am in now is primarily one of sowing. While remembering that can help me deal with the discouragement of some days, I think I also need to try to see the fruit of my labors that is there, just maybe not as visible at times.

Courtney, yes, the definition of productivity has definitely changed for me in different ways!
Jessy
December 14th, 2009 @ 7:51 am

In another of your posts, you spoke of opposition. And since I so desperately wanted to be a mom and had to wait and work and suffer to become one, I know what it’s like to go without–without the love and joy (and hardship) that comes with motherhood. I feel that since I longed to be a mother for so long, I enjoy all aspects of it so much more (even the tantrums, the messy diapers, the lack of getting much accomplished throughout the day–though I only experience this on a small scale with only one little rugrat to care for). This helps me maintain balance and some semblance of sanity when I have those frustratingly fruitless (and seemingly futile) days. And I like the saying: bloom where you’re planted and that’s what I try to do–grow wherever I find myself planted.