by Kristen Andersen | March 26 | @theartstudiony

The first daffodil of Spring has bloomed! 

We plant daffodil bulbs in the Fall and they don’t bloom until Spring. We wonder all Winter whether or not those bulbs will actually sprout…sure enough, however, those happy, yellow flowers greet us every March! The first flowers of the season, reminding us that we made it through yet another winter, and soon enough, we will be basking in the Summer sun. 

The Spring weather has inspired me to try my hand at gardening. I’ve purchased cute plants at the grocery store before, but never have I been able to keep one from meeting their untimely demise. This time around, however, I’ve actually found success in not only keeping a plant alive, but also getting a plant to grow from just a seed! I’m not sure what it was, but this time, it just clicked. Plants flourish and reproduce in the wild all without human interjection. If just the soil, sun, wind, and rain could keep plants alive, how hard can it be for me to partake in the process? 

The hardest part of gardening is waiting to see if a plant will actually grow from the little, tiny seed. The germination process takes place underneath the soil, so you have no idea if it’ll sprout until it finally does. After a few days/weeks/months, a little, tiny, green seedling starts peeking out through the boggy soil. That little sprout brings with it the feeling of accomplishment, encouraging you to keep going– your hard work is actually paying off!

If it wasn’t for the whole timeline of gardening, I would have gotten into it earlier. It takes a good while for you to see the fruits of your labor. I wanted a hobby that provided instant gratification. I felt like I needed to see results right away to validate this adventure is worth my time and effort. This mentality ended the day I realized time is going to pass whether I planted seeds or not. Wouldn’t that be nice if I have a new baby plant at the end of those two weeks as opposed to nothing?  

In fact, you can take that notion and apply it to any hobby. Time will pass whether or not you’ve started practicing a new language. You may as well spend 15 minutes today learning what you can. Sure, it does take a while to learn how to play an instrument, but the sooner you start, the sooner you will no longer be calling yourself a beginner. Every renowned artist there is started out knowing nothing, it took years of practicing their skill to become as notable as they are. 

The idea of time passing us by can seem scary– it is scary, I will not discredit that. But we are brave enough to accept our fear, understand it, and look at it from a brighter perspective. Let’s make the most out of our finite supply of time and just enjoy it. Treat your time like the most valuable commodity in the world. Invest it in the right places and you will reap what you sow!

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