The Joy of Waiting
The joy found in waiting for something to happen is experienced much like that of a fruiting flower. A seed must first be sewn for the flower to even begin to germinate. Germination is a most precious stage of the process toward getting a bloom. The soil must be fertile. The conditions must be perfect. Some seeds are sewn with such care as to germinate in their own special pot, seed-starting-pod, or even a napkin on a window seal with a single seed being spritzed with water every so thoughtfully throughout the day.
If a seed germinates, it must have nutrient rich soil to soak up, and a large enough receptacle to spread its roots and begin to grow. The seedling must also shed some of its first leaves, those amazing first signs of life must be shrugged off in order for the seedling to move into higher stages of its development.
And you see, the waiting has long begun at this stage. One can seemingly feel the seconds and hours tick by during those first few days waiting to see life peek it’s head out of that shell and stretch. The memory of the planting of the seed is fresh and the hope for the flowering fruit is heavy on the mind. As the seedling begins to strengthen its stalk and produce more foliage, it becomes more independent. It’s large and maturing leaves bring in plenty of nutrients from the sun and its great elongating roots scour the soil with ever greater ease. Large strides are made, and stages of development and progress are readily recognizable with even the slightest glance.
Each visit to the now budding plant is a symbiotic session of mirrored convalescence. The grower and the grown commune toward the goal of fruiting flower. At first the bud hardly resembles the fruit, yet with diligent watering and care, the bud begins to take the familiar shape of a flower, still not the exact copy of the fruit desired, but closer still. With further care and consistent visits to the once little dry seed, the bud begins to open.
In comparison to the time it takes to get to point of flowering, this stage seems to wince by in the blink of an eye. A truly beautify part of the process, the plant comes to a youthful maturity full of beauty and exuberance, producing an essence that attracts the catalyst toward its ultimate fate. The blooming of the flower is brief and potent. If this flower is cut and cherished by just one at this stage, there will be no fruit. If the gardener ceases to visit and water and care for the flower after the petals have wilted, there will likely be no fruit. It is the culmination of its youth and beauty, the days and hours of time to grow from a seed to this along with the dedication of the gardener that actually pollinate the flower and allow the second large process to begin; the production and garnering of the fruit.
At first this is a sad thing. The beauty of the flower is lost to wilting, the nimble and elegant stalk is now becoming fattened, hard and sturdy in order to hold the fruit, but once the plant is sturdy enough, all energy is transferred to the now fruiting body. It grows slowly, but noticeably, and the day of harvest is finally in sight. One must be ready for the ripening and the precise moment to gather the fruit. If the gardener does not come quickly, the fruit could be eaten by another creature, or left to spoil and rot.
This is how I’ve come to understand dreams, goals and aspirations as well. Each desire a seed and its manifestation the fruiting body. “The oak sleeps in the acorn, the bird waits in the egg.” I’m continually fortified in my belief, through experience, that if one finds the joy of this growth-in-stages, and implements a tedious and rigorous dedication to the seed, it should become impossible not to obtain good fruit.
