On Being Reminded to Nurture What I Already Have

I don’t normally write emails that are this long, but I just had to share this.

On Monday I stepped out to clean my small hydroponic garden so it could be ready to grow another batch of tea plants. It had been outside for a while, so a group of large black ants were already attempting to make a nest in it.

When I pulled up the garden’s water reservoir and revealed the colony, the ants scrambled, picking up their little larvae babies in their mouths/mandibles and fleeing. I felt like a monster attacking a village. I gave them time to run away and then rinsed off the more determined hangers on. So that was that.

The next day I was driving past a neighbors' house and saw they were throwing out an adorable drawer set. It was small, handmade of wood and was very artsy. It looked like it was built to hold creative tools for a child, and I could just imagine how much fun it would be to paint it and add some unique knobs. I checked it out, opening and closing the drawers. I was seriously thinking about taking it home until I opened the very last drawer.

In the last drawer I found the same kind of ants that were trying to make a nest in my garden equipment. And once again, they picked up their babies and started fleeing at the sight of me. I’m sure it was a sunlight/temperature thing, but still.

So I closed the drawer and said to myself with resignation, "I'll just leave the drawer set here. Besides I don't have the energy to take on a creative project like that right now," (although it was definitely the ants that helped me make my decision).

I’ve realized these ant encounters were sending me a message. Lately I've been loading up on new projects to relieve financial anxiety. I keep uprooting things to add something new, when what I really need to do is diligently nurture the creative babies I already have. These fledgling projects need time to grow and mature, even if progress feels small.

I do not need more projects. It's almost like the natural world was saying, "Don't plant yet another garden or take on some random upholstery project! You already have enough. Focus on your current babies, like the ants were trying to do until you showed up and disturbed things!"

What I need isn’t found in starting more new things. It’s found when I pay attention to what’s already growing within.

So yeah, I get it. Fine.

Still, the ants couldn't stop me from writing at least one new blog post! So here's another piece of writing that has come through recently:

I May Need the Money, But I Still Can Put My Health First

I also updated this older post into something new-ish:

10 Ways to Get More Organized in 5 Minutes

And I'm still slowly posting "new" chapters of Omnigirl. It is truly a passion project worth tending to and nurturing.

Thank you so much for being here and allowing me to share with you whatever I can, whenever it feels right. Wishing you success in showing love to whatever you already have.

~Arcadia Page

Intuitive Writer/Artist/Creative Rebel⚡

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