Wild Musings:
We can try to measure growth. Certainly work and school environments have systems in place to track learning or assess strategies. We set goals, use metrics and analytics to measure deliverables, and track growth. And yet, there is a whole dimension of growth that is at least as important, but much harder to measure.
- How present were you today?
- Did you show up the way you wanted to at that meeting?
- How did you support and take care of yourself and your team today?
These, too, are growth questions, inquiries to gauge and explore. Questions (and values) that indeed help to achieve the more trackable goals, but have assets that go far beyond the measurements.
A Wild Dare?
No doubt you have a sense of who and how you want to be in this world and in your life. And you probably can just tell when that feels aligned in you and when it doesn’t. It’s a lot easier to focus on other things, most especially the long list of things you do…or intend to do. Let this beautiful season of growth be a companion for you, nudging you to pay attention to the less measurable ways of being. Dare yourself, this week especially, to shine a little more light on how you show up. See if there are areas — like listening with less distractions, or risking yourself a bit more – in which you want to grow. Then set your Wild self to the task.
Bare branches and silent winter days
are but a memory
as we near summer solstice.
Shades of white snow and crystal blue
have given way to relentless green.
From dormancy rises
a summons to grow
that keeps us on our toes.
No longer shoveling
instead we mow, pull, whack,
and make our choices
around what to trim and tame
and what to let grow wild.
What we know
most especially this time of year
is that everything and everyone
shares this boundless call to grow.
Seasons and cycles give us
quiet reflective times
and periods of busting out.
A pull toward green sprouting
boisterous courageous steps
further in and further out
in this world.
If its inspiration you seek
as you feel the push / pull inside you
of steps in perhaps frightening new directions,
look to the grace of branches
swaying with the weight of vibrant leaves
heavy from new growth and recent rains.
See the way buds stretch skyward
readying for bloom
as if extending a cupped hand
to hold the sun.
You can trust the trees, the flowers,
the bursting green of this season.
Just as you can trust your own yearning
to set your wild spirit free
and grow in directions that call to you.
