Trusting Slow Growth
Though summer has never been my favorite season, as a novice gardener I'm beginning to appreciate—and even look forward to—the quiet flourishing of my garden. The long days and humid nights have transformed what was once a fledging garden into something alive and gorgeous. Over the course of weeks, I've had the privilege of watching the miracle of life slowly take root.
When I first planted the garden, I worried whether my vision would work. Would I know enough to keep everything alive? Had I chosen the right plants? Was I capable of tending something that would continue to grow long after the excitement of planting had passed?
At first, I couldn't see any change.
I had to learn to trust that much of what happens in a garden is invisible.
Seeds split open beneath the soil. Roots reach deeper into the earth. Tiny shoots gather strength long before they ever emerge into the light.
Perhaps that's why I love the symbolism of this week's New Moon. The New Moon is a beginning, but not a flashy one. It invites us to set intentions quietly, trusting that the energy we offer today is already creating something we cannot yet see. Just like a garden, our deepest growth often begins beneath the surface.
Growth We Cannot Yet Measure
One of the hardest things about personal growth is trusting progress before there is evidence.
We live in a culture that celebrates dramatic transformations—the before-and-after photos, the promotions, the finished book, the completed marathon. But most meaningful change happens slowly and almost invisibly.
Healing. Rebuilding strength. Learning patience. Changing old habits. Creating something beautiful. Restoring trust. Beginning again.
None of these happen overnight.
Looking back over the past six months since retiring, I can see changes that were impossible to recognize while they were unfolding. At the time, it often felt like I wasn't making enough progress. There were uncertain days, difficult decisions, and moments when I questioned whether I was moving forward at all.
Yet here I stand, living a life that once existed only as a dream on the horizon. A new job at Willow Wellness Center. A growing coaching practice. Writing almost every day. Digging in the garden. Creating art. Building a home filled with intention. None of it appeared overnight. Each small choice became another root stretching quietly into the soil.
Only in hindsight can I see how much was growing beneath the surface all along.
Growth has its own rhythm. It cannot be rushed, forced, or measured every day. Sometimes our only job is to keep showing up—to water the soil, trust the season, and believe that what we cannot yet see is still becoming.
Practice: Notice What Is Taking Root
Today, spend a few quiet moments reflecting on your own unseen growth.
What have I been practicing consistently?
What feels different than it did six months ago?
What progress might I be overlooking simply because it hasn't been dramatic?
What signs tell me that something beautiful is taking root?
You may discover that your roots are much deeper than you realized.
Carrying the Light Forward
Gardens remind us that life unfolds in its own time. Beneath every blossom is a season of unseen work—a patient weaving of roots, nourishment, and quiet persistence. We are no different.
Not everything meaningful announces itself when it begins.
Sometimes growth is simply the quiet decision to keep going.
Trust the roots you are growing.
Trust the season you are in.
And trust that the intentions you plant today, like seeds beneath the soil and the promise held within the New Moon, are already becoming tomorrow's garden.