Because of this…

Last night during the final night of the Wellness Mentorship Program I just invested in, we were asked to teach something. Honestly, I completely forgot this was part of our last assignment. I looked around to see what I would be inspired to teach on quickly, and my eyes landed on my girl… my indoor garden.

Yep… the same girl who only ate fish sticks and cheese sandwiches first became an urban gardener nearly six years ago!

I told the story of how my vertical garden gave me so much confidence. When our new home magically had a gardening space (𝘸𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳), I was nervous and excited. I felt compelled to try my hand at it, but it hadn’t been farmed for a number of years. Because of all that I have learned about plant life without having to deal with soil, or compost, or even remembering to water, I knew I had learned enough to grow a lil’ somethin’ somethin’.

After my brief lesson, one of the amazing girls in the group said, “you’ve gotta dig in there. You come alive talking about that”. So here’s a little more to the story…

Delicious, chemical-free (𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴, 𝘮𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘸𝘯𝘴 🤦🏻‍♀️), vine-ripened, WHOLE FOOD!

This leads me to my point… 🛑 STOP 🛑 writing stories … aka, saying out loud … what you’re not. Your brain believes what it hears, and it hears all of your thoughts. If you have a desired change, the way you word how you speak about it is pivotal. You will surprise yourself how much more simple it becomes when you begin to believe you are “in the process of developing the skills needed” or “excited to improve your skill around…”. A simple reframing can move you closer towards your goal. Crazy, it can be that simple.

For years I said, “I’m not a gardener,” and that “I can’t grow anything” because I was unsuccessful in my efforts. I didn’t know I could begin in a way where the garden would water itself, a way where I didn’t have to the soil, or even understand the difference between soil and dirt. I had no idea that my little electrical outlet could produce this kind of food for our family. Never did I dream I could grow year-round. But I changed my story. I started saying, “I’m in the process of becoming a gardener,” and you guys…. 6 years later, I am both a vertical and soil-based gardener. I chose to believe I could learn because I learned the importance of knowing.

I understood why and how vine-ripened food is better and how it is different from what we purchase at the grocery. Understanding the distance and time it takes our food to arrive has humbled me. 2020 taught me that although we are a great nation, nearly all of our farming is for our live-stock, and if the borders closed, we wouldn’t have enough food to feed our people. I further learned the implications of eating food that has been grown and sprayed with pesticides and how that impacts our insides 🧬. And, as you all know, I have further committed to doing the best I can and sharing what I know with the ones I love and anyone who will listen.

Do you garden?

What do you grow?

What’s holding you back?