You Can’t Rush Your Healing
The past year has been a season of intense healing for me …. as well as significant personal growth.
And I’m facing the reality that both are excruciatingly slow!
I often feel heavy and restless because I’m not ‘there” yet (wherever “there” is) - in my relationships, in my emotional stability, in my grieving, in my business.
This week marked two years since I was invited by the universe to leave my corporate job and decided to launch this wild idea of Regenerative Workplaces.
I’ve made some meaningful progress. And I’ve also had plenty of disappointment. Setbacks. Rejection. Confusion. Fear.
All while navigating a polarizing national election and administration change … grieving the loss of my mom … and wrestling with deep dysfunctions in my marriage.
I want this season of instability and change and growth to be done already!
It’s been gritty and dirty and painful …. and SLOW.
And yet - I can also look back and see the beauty that has emerged… that is still emerging.
Each day I feel a little stronger. Clearer. More grounded. More alive. Proud and humble. A little sore … A lot impatient.
It’s got me thinking about nature.
Growth Takes Time - Just Ask a Garden
For most of my adult life, I have loved (and kinda hated) gardening.
Back when I lived in Alaska I became a certified Master Gardener. I had a green house, four raised beds and perennials all around my house. I grew vegetables, raspberries, and flowers.
I lost plenty - to moose, to bugs, to weather and poor soil…. but I learned to keep tending, and also had many abundant harvests.
Moose doing what moose do in gardens in Alaska… You can’t exactly stop them!
Then I moved to Colorado. New soil. New climate. New pests. And honestly? My gardening here has been less successful. This year, with little discretionary income, I planted seeds instead of starters…. And seeds grow excruciatingly slow …
Half didn't even sprout. Squirrels dug up some. Weeds choked out others. Aphids attacked my perennials… Still, blooms are starting to appear. And every flower brings a little spark of joy.
Zinnias I grew from seeds this year
Nature can’t be rushed (and neither can life)
Do you see where I’m going with this?
Life is nature.
And nature doesn't move on our timelines.
Being in the dirt - tilling, planting, watering, weeding, fertilizing and fighting pests - is a visceral reminder of life itself. It’s no wonder that Jesus and so many other spiritual teachers spoke in parables about seeds and soil and harvests
Harvesting takes work. It takes time. And it cannot be be rushed.
There is a sacred dance between the gardener and the garden. The gardener tends, nurtures, prepares the conditions. But then? She must wait. She must trust what she cannot see. She must surrender to forces beyond her control: the sun, the rain, the mystery of the seed.
And it sucks.
And it’s beautiful.
If You're Tired of "Not Being There Yet"...
Do you ever find wishing you were "THERE” already?
I do.
I think our instant gratification, drive-thru, next day delivery culture has slowly eroded our capacity to respect the slowness of deep work - the kid of transformation that actually lasts.
So I’m learning to slow down.
To find beauty in emergence.
To savor the anticipation.
To TRUST the process - even when it is taking longer than I want.
Nature doesn't respond to pressure.
And neither does your soul.
Neither does our healing.
Neither does our work.
The Regenerative Process: It's Slow On Purpose
This is why the work I do - helping leaders build regenerative cultures - also takes time.
It’s not a one time workshop.
It’s not a six week program.
It’s not a quick fix.
It's sacred. It's gritty. It’s spiritual and magical.
It's soil and sweat and surrender. It’s showing up and staying in the dirt… with awe, wonder, effort, and hope.
Something new is always emerging.
If you're in a season of slow emergence - if life feels like one big aching "not there yet" - I invite you to pause. Take a breath. Look back. Look around....
And trust the process.
You're not behind. You're not failing. You're right where you're meant to be.
Come Sit in the Dirt with Me
I’d love to be part of your journey of emergence. I have a spiritual, natural, in the dirt with you approach as well as plenty of experience in the trenches. I’m learning from my own emergence and I’d be honored to cultivate yours with you.
I also gather others who are navigating their own regenerative process at a free monthly roundtable - a space for conversation, connection, and shared emergence. If that sounds nourishing, I'd love to have you join us: https://events.humanitix.com/regenerative-workplaces-roundtable
And if you’re looking for a guide who is both spiritual and strategic, tender and tough, grounded and growing - I'd be honored to walk beside you.
Let's cultivate something beautiful together.
