The Gardner's Guide to Growing Your Dreams

Cultivate Your Aspirations

Keeping your dreams in your head goes nowhere.

They become internal heirlooms to admire, but they collect dust.

Take your dreams out of your head and put them in your hands.

Now they become actions to take or seeds of a future life.

Seeds that are waiting to grow.

Dreams are seeds of change. Nothing ever grows without a seed and nothing changes without a dream. — Debby Boone

Dreams as seeds

Inside the seed is everything to start and sustain life for about two weeks. They can stay dormant for years. Our dream seeds wait for the right conditions to start growing.

It is magic in the palm of your hand. It is the magic of your dreams.

We dream of growing a big, beautiful life from these seeds—a life of energy sustaining us day after day—nourishment for our soul.

I started writing from this dream. I felt things inside needing to be said, and I used my voice to speak my truth. Lately, however, my voice hasn’t been as strong as it could be. It’s been lost among the voices of other people.

I wanted to reinvent my dream. Spring is a great time to do this. We watch new life bloom around us, and new life is reflected inside of us.

“In the garden of dreams, there are many great seeds of possibilities waiting to sprout — looking for your attention — the water and the light.”
― Amit Ray

Which seeds or dreams to choose

A gardener starts here.

You can’t plant everything. Or you shouldn’t.

Any gardener I know has hundreds of different types of seeds.

They only plant a few. Otherwise, their garden would have a mess.

Around 75% are the same they grow every year. The rest are new things to try. We should do the same with our dreams.

We have current dreams we plant every year. We save some space for the new ones.

We have to asses which seeds we are going to plant.

How viable are the seeds

Anything that grows supports the web of life. Each sprouted seed has its function. The function is to feed your wallet, body, or soul.

But it needs a possibility.

Growing seeds doesn’t happen overnight.

You must consider your resources and what you want to harvest for the coming year. You need goals.

Goals can change a little or a lot from year to year. It depends on what you want to keep going and what you want to start new.

Gardeners think the same way.

How much time and energy do I have to devote to this? Do I have enough water?

Plant your dreams and miracles will grow.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Plants you already have

You could also have plants that come back year after year. Gardeners call them perennials.

Perennials are plants that grow back from the roots. We might keep dreams in our lives, but never give them any attention.

You gave it enough nourishment to grow, then ignored it. Now, it is a wild plant. Inspect it as you would the seeds.

Viability is a necessity. It might take pruning or replanting to make your dream sustainable.

I look at my writing like this. I enjoy doing it. I am still invested in it. It needs pruning and replanting, however. I have changed since I started it. My writing grew wild because my dream changed.

I let my ego compete with others, trying to emulate their success. I didn’t speak my truth. Replanting will reflect a different goal.

Now, I write to express ideas that I see in the world.

How big your garden should be

Another condition to account for is how big your garden is going to be.

This is determined by your garden goals. Are you gardening for exercise? Are you gardening to feed yourself all year?

This also accounts for where you are going to garden.

Are you gardening from home? Are you gardening at a community garden? Are you gardening with others to share the work and harvest?

Your dream seeds need the same consideration.

Is it a side hustle? Is it a full-time occupation? Are you working with a group to make it happen?

There are plenty of times when you need a different space to grow. Space might be a concern, or you need special conditions and other things that come in a different space. We might relocate because the dream won’t thrive here.

Soil condition and preparation

A gardener will examine soil conditions. Proper seed growth requires careful cultivation in fertile soil.

Fertile soil is based on the right combination of nutrients.

Our seeds may need more nutrients than we have on hand. Gathering what you need for optimal soil conditions with the proper nutrients can take time.

Skill sets and talents are the nutrients you need for your dream seeds.

Skills and talent grow that dream by giving it a foundation to start.

For example, a clear mindset is an excellent nutrient. There are no expectations or negative self-talk to dehydrate the seed.

Telling yourself that you can’t do something or any other negative thought uses energy. Enough negativity, and you have no energy for your dream.

Not believing in the dream is another way to say that resources won’t be allocated to it. No energy or other resources means the seed stays a seed and never grows.

Fertile soil in a mind is necessary for your dream.

We may not have all the things we need to nourish the seed.

We might lack skills or support.

This is the best time to look for these items or ensure their presence in your life. We can plan and gather everything needed for growth.

Get what you don’t have. Sharpen your skills or acquire new ones as needed.

I pruned my writing. I have a daily habit of writing, but it was very chaotic, draining my energy. I put myself on a regular schedule, which cleared up my mind’s overthinking. I was able to focus on my writing.

You must give to get. You must sow the seed, before you can reap the harvest.

-Scott Reed

Planting time is here

Timing to ensure the right conditions for the seed to grow is critical.

Every gardener knows the best conditions to grow their particular seeds.

Gardeners look at the seeds and decide the climate and temperature they need to grow in. Starting seeds under a grow light establishes strong roots, which are tended very carefully.

Maybe the seeds don’t need a lot of heat and favor other conditions. Perhaps they need partial shade to be successful.

Another factor might be the temperature. Warmer weather means the soil is warmer, and has a better chance of growth. This is an extension of the planning stage.

Planting our dreams also takes great care.

We might have to start slowly because of a full-time job. It might take time to acquire skills. We might need more money to fund the dream.

As you invest time into the idea, you give your dream the food/energy needed to start. Another nutrient we offer our seed is physical work to make it grow. We might make phone calls or take other action.

Not every environment accepts the dream shaping progress you want to put across. Take a second look at what you dream about, be sure it can progress very well where you are.”
― Israelmore Ayivor

Nourishing your plants

You have found your garden space.

You planted your seeds.

All the nutrients are present.

Now comes the time to tend the plants.

Weeding is essential. A weed is a plant we didn’t plant. It shows up by itself.

If you don’t pull the weeds, then your seed/plants have fewer nutrients and they don’t grow as strong.

Pruning is another task you need to consider.

Plants grow fast and get out of control. They overtake other plants or go to seed too soon, and you are unable to harvest them.

Your dreams are the same.

We need to weed out things that don’t contribute to the dream and prune it as things change.

You started with one idea.

But a lot of other ideas have come along. You need to focus on one. Don’t let it get wild with too much to do. You might get overwhelmed and stop everything, not knowing what to do next.

You need to do some pruning because one dream took off too quickly. It is more than you can handle, and it is overshooting the other dreams you have.

Choices need to be made. Keep going with the dream that has grown quickly. Is it the direction you want to head in? Is it out of sync with your goals? Is it time to trim it back?

There are always changes to things that were never anticipated. This is part of tending and nourishing your dreams.

Harvest time is here

All your work has paid off.

It’s time to start harvesting what you planted.

This is the reward for your patience and diligence.

Enjoy your success.

Your dreams are starting to produce results.

A job well done. The first part of the dream is manifested. But the planning doesn’t stop here.

What do you do with the harvest?

If it is just to enjoy yourself for a while, enjoy. But what if it is something that needs to sustain you?

You need to either start freezing or canning the harvest. This makes it available when circumstances change and the garden doesn’t yield anymore. (Cold weather is usually here.)

Our dream has yielded a harvest. Now we need to manage that harvest. It’s the same.

This all depends on your dream and your circumstances. Planning is essential here.

Also, if you are going to be a serious gardener, you will save the seeds for the next planting.

You collect the seeds. Now, cull them. Which are good and which need to be thrown away?

This keeps the gardening and nourishment going. Plant new seeds as you need. Luckily, the weather isn’t a consideration for this.

Dreams are worth your time

With all this in place, you plan to plant your dream.

• You have a plan to look at which dreams you are going to focus on.

• You can consider how big the dream is going to be and how it will feed you. Is it going to be a small endeavor or a larger plan to sustain you more?

• You learn what you need to make the dream grow, including how much time, skills, and mindset you will need to make this a success.

• You take the first step into making this a success.

• You have the patience to keep it growing, making sure it stays on course and doesn’t become confused or distracted.

• Harvesting what you have worked so hard for. What other considerations might you need to consider to keep it growing?

My writing is now back on course. I have let it grow and had the first harvest of success. I am now looking at other goals as I keep it on course.

Use the energy of this time of year to start looking at your dreams. Don’t let them stay as dried kernels in your pocket. Our days are numbered, and you can run out of time to plant.

“Don’t put your dreams on hold. Don’t wait for the right time to come. And don’t wait for this or that to be finished. Things change quicker than you think, and suddenly it’s too late. And then you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”

— Hendrik Falkenberg