Summer is here and the garden is in the fullness of growth.
Last year, I only had tomatoes in a raised bed — this year I’ve overdone it. Tomatoes, green and banana peppers, cucumbers (pictured above), green beans, canteloupe, and blueberries.
Plant and water. Sunlight and darkness. Weed, wait, and harvest. There aren't many other ways to grow. And this is true for plants, too.
Creatively and mentally, I find myself in a season of relative dormancy—feeling some sense of wanting more, but not finding the inner energy necessary to go beyond what is good and necessary to take care of one day at a time. It’s tempting to resist, to press out and force myself into solving more problems, producing more ideas, contributing to more causes.
But with age, I’ve begun, finally, to learn the wisdom of seasons, not expecting that any person can constantly produce, constantly be in growth mode. Humans need time for dormancy, for maintenance, for rest. Rest can still be active, but it’s different than the actively breaking new ground.
In a recent session at work, on the topic of rest and recovery, I used the following illustration:
Not every plant is best suited to be in full sunlight; others won’t thrive unless they are. But every plant needs times of darkness of rest. More than 16 hours of sunlight and most any plant begins to lose the ability to go through photosynthesis, the process by which it converts sunlight into energy. Too much of a good thing (sunlight) actually is bad for a plant. Darkness and rest is part of the healthy lifecycle of plants.
And we all know humans are essentially houseplants with complicated emotions.
How will you prioritize rest and recovery this summer?
Podcasts
Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell, “The Crisis in Girls’ Sports with Lauren Fleshman and Linda Flanagan” — The lesson: listen to women when they talk about the experience of girls and women.
More Perfect, “The Supreme Court v. Peyote.” — Glad this show is back. Also, indigenous rights meet drug laws.
On Being with Krista Tippet, “Vivek Murthy–To Be a Healer” — The two-time U.S. Surgeon General talks about health, technology, loneliness, and more.
Radiolab, “The Seagulls” — Lulu has a way of telling such compelling, humanizing stories. Well-timed for Pride month.
The Growth Equation, “171–Steve Magness Gives a Masterclass on Exercise.” — Grounded, accessible, compelling talk on the simplicity of (easy) daily movement.
Everything Happens with Kate Bowler, “Tig Notaro: The Luckiest Unlucky Person” — Tig is hilarious and shares such a hard story of disease.
The Great Creators with Guy Raz, “Rain Wilson: ‘The Office’ Star on His Awkward Childhood, The Joy of Being Dwight Schrute, and His Mission to Make Us More Mindful” — A wide-ranging conversation. Also, go watch his new TV show, “The Geography of Bliss” on Peacock.
The Ready State, "Lindsay Berra: Growing Up with Baseball Legend Yogi Berra and the Emotional Documentary that Goes Beyond the "Yogi-isms” — This left me absolutely ready to go watch the documentary.
To Check Out
Documentary: Wild Life
”Wild Life follows conservationist Kris Tompkins on an epic, decades-spanning love story as wild as the landscapes she dedicated her life to protecting. After falling in love in mid-life, Kris and the outdoorsman and entrepreneur Doug Tompkins left behind the world of the massively successful outdoor brands they'd helped pioneer -- Patagonia, The North Face, and Esprit -- and turned their attention to a visionary effort to create National Parks throughout Chile and Argentina.”Article: The Case for Phone-Free Schools by Jonathan Haidt of
“Get Phones Out of Schools Now. They impede learning, stunt relationships, and lessen belonging. They should be banned.”
Organization/Place: Quiet Parks h/t
andQuiet Parks International is a non-profit committed to saving quiet for the benefit of all life. Quiet Parks International recognizes the immediate need for identifying and protecting endangered locations because quiet places are quickly becoming extinct. 97% of the U.S. population is exposed to noise from aviation and highways, quiet is nearly extinct. [Our vision is a] world that offers quiet within and without. A world where everyone has daily access to quiet and opportunities to listen to the sounds of nature. A world where the experience of quiet nature is directly linked to inner quiet, peace and joy of being. Find the quiet places here.
This dispatch was written to music, including the 2023 album “Henry St.” by The Tallest Man on Earth.