"The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now."
To say that last year was rough for me would be an understatement. This old proverb has been helping me make the best out of the beginning of this new one.
As with many people, there are a lot of things that I really don’t like about myself. For too long I have wallowed in what I haven’t done or feel like I should have when I was younger. At some point I decided to start writing down a list of all of things that I want to do more of. Some I’ve done before while others are brand new and will push me out of my comfort zone. I continue to add to the list. But there are two that came at the blunt recommendation of someone very wise and are the key to embracing the rest: love myself and stop being afraid.
Planting trees is the beginning of something new and anything new can be scary. It is not easy to approach things with a beginner’s mind, especially when you tend to be a perfectionist. There is no certainty in what will lie on the other side. No matter what, it will ultimately look different from where you are today. Some of those trees will end up dying because they weren’t right for the forest we call life. Others will grow tall and strong, possibly towering over the rest, reshaping the skyline.
This post is simultaneously about nothing and everything — the essence of a Kyle Story, the new namesake of this publication. It is not about the trees themselves, that will come in due time. This is simply a dose of water on one of the few “creative” outlets that I have to see how it may thrive.
The past few months have already seen some new seedlings begin to flourish. Some have been getting more attention than others while more are ready to be planted. I’m already looking forward to what this new forest will look like many months, and years, from now.