i am a seed that grows more seeds

on creative gardening

yesterday I went rice planting. this involved digging up seedlings from muddy rice paddies, rinsing out the water, and then walking through the paddies in my ridiculous white toe socks, hunched over with a basket, to plant three seedlings per intersection point on the mudded grid. the organizer explained to us: take three seedlings like holding a pencil, and put it down into the muddy waters. that’s it.

she showed us how each seedling grew — from a single grain of rice — white roots, a green stem. I was blown away — by the intelligence of nature in designing such a plant. I was shocked to see that from a single grain of rice, you can yield hundreds of grains. from a single grain of rice, an entire bowl. with time, of course. and this is how you feed an entire nation.

it felt, to me, like the most obvious metaphor for the creative process — which IS the process of life, of us.

I am the seed, and from me, hundreds more seeds can grow. with time. and patience. and a gentle cultivation. not every seedling will mature to be eaten, but this is why you plant hundreds, thousands of them in a single field. and what that also means — is that you can plop me down anywhere; in any environment-paddy around the world, and as long as the conditions are suitable, I will grow roots. and yield more seeds; seeds which will both literally and metaphorically — nourish my stomach, and my soul.

if I am the seed, and I am here to grow more seeds, then the only thing I need to concern myself with is this gentle cultivation, this daily care. I knew all of this, but it was amazing to see it in nature — nature which created me, nature which I forget that I am a part of. but I am.