Chasing - The Next Idea
"An idle mind is like bare soil. It's fertile ground where weeds will grow." -Tracey S. Phillips
I don’t write because I have stories to tell, I write because I have to. I write because otherwise, my brain spins on auto pilot and worry and doubt grow like weeds.
Last spring, my husband and I took on a project that was bigger than the both of us. We decided to return a large swath of our front yard to native plants and prairie grass. Since my husband is still trying to keep up with our neighbors’ perfectly green, weedless, immaculate lawns and I fall into the camp of wildflowers everywhere!, we compromised and planned a small plot on the side of our large front yard. Our property is about one acre.
The kidney-bean shaped area was about twenty-five feet wide by fifty feet long. At the time of the decision, the area was covered mostly in fertilized, well-established sod. But I had a plan. I went to classes at the February, Wisconsin Garden Expo and learned how to return your yard to native grasses and flowering plants. I bought a seed mixture that looked great on the computer. It had coneflower and three kinds of clover. It had six types of grasses and even some wildflowers mixed in. I was so excited to cut down on lawn fertilizer and gasoline usage, that I couldn’t wait to get started.
When the weather warmed in April, we rented a sod cutter and my husband and I got to work. He operated the sod cutter, which was a heavy gasoline powered tool with a 12” blade. He cut , I rolled the sod. In five hours, we had about 3000 feet of sod (maybe more…? I’m not a mathematician). Each roll (make a circle with your arms) weighed about thirty-forty pounds. We began loading rolls into our tiny two-wheel wheel barrow and quickly realized that we needed something bigger to haul this s#*x. Our neighbor lent us his lawn-tracker trailer and asked for some of the sod in return.
No Problem! We had sod, and then some.
We laid down sod in the areas he needed grass, but still had about two tons of sod to get rid of. The sweaty, back-breaking project took us all weekend and cost next to nothing. However, I’ll never do that again. We were sore, tired puppies when we finally finished.
You’re probably wondering what this has to do with, um, chasing the next idea? I have a point, hold onto your head. (Sorry.)
All that bare, fertile ground needed was seeds, water and sunshine. And time. But Weeds grow faster that grass or plantings. They are opportunistic little bastards and love, love, love bare soil. For a few months, the weeds took over our little plot. And here’s where I get to my point. (Finally!)
A couple weeks ago, I finished my Work in Progress (WIP). I have plenty of adjacent work to prep that story for publication, but I also have plenty of time. Too much time. In the interim, I worry. I be-rate myself and imposter syndrome grows like a … you guessed it.
Don’t be jealous, but my mornings are long. If I don’t fill the hours with writing, I end up flitting between social media apps or sending and responding to emails. Trust me, no one is faster to respond to emails than a writer sitting at her desk between projects.
No more idle time. Yesterday I got out an old manuscript and began editing. I can officially say I’m writing again. And it feels so good!
“The idle life I lead
Is like a pleasant sleep,
Wherein I rest and heed
The dreams that by me sweep.”
― Robert Bridges
I love it that you've created physical and mental projects that are constructive and beautiful--and make the world a better place. Keep on!
Maybe this is why I thrive on chasing the new and novel… doesn’t leave time for weeds to grow! (However, those other untended beds, aka unfinished projects, do get over grown!)