I've been thinking about all the wonderful words shared by our Coming of Age graduates this past Sunday, and especially about one young woman's story about learning that mistakes are okay. That learning is part of my ongoing journey, and I don't think I've figured it out yet!
But today I spent some time gardening with my father and we decided that the pansies, which had gotten leggy (not enough sun) and yellow (not enough water), really needed to go. We picked a few plants to save in a pot, but mostly turned the soil right over, raking through the green and preparing the bed for a new life with vinca minor--a much more appropriate choice for the location.
And it felt great! Almost as good as the time that I ripped out the half a sweater I'd been knitting, having finally accepted that the pattern just wasn't a good one. Somehow, even though making mistakes can feel scary, realizing mistakes and taking action to fix them feels great.
So I wonder if in some ways we can re-frame mistakes as solutions waiting to happen...and if that helps us to plant with abandon, knowing that we can always pull it up and turn over the earth if we did it wrong.
