Are You Alive?

This sweet potato was sitting in my fruit basket a bit too long and started to sprout. I had heard that you could dip them in water a bit and they would start growing roots. I decided I wanted to try. I have found joy in watching this potato sprout one root, then another, then all of a sudden five and seven, and then the leaves on top started to grow more and bigger and reach for the sun.

It puts a smile on my face to see it as I walk into my kitchen. This potato was alive in my fruit basket and left alone. It did what every living thing must do, grow. If something is alive it will grow, it must.

Sometimes our growth is not convenient for others, sometimes it happens in the most unlikely places or times. The potato once it sprouted leaves, I did not think I should cook it. I would have preferred it lay there dormant so that when I was ready for it, it was available to me. But that is the thing about growth, it is alive inside us, the creative impulse, the lifeblood, the need to give and reproduce ourselves, and reach for the sun, lives inside us.

And for anyone that is alive, no one or nothing can stifle it. For those alive, we will grow no matter where you put us, if it is rocky soil, imperfect environmental conditions, too little sun or not enough water, the creative impulse, the life inside of us will push through the cracks of the rocks, find resources for water, figure out how to get the light needed and keep growing. And keep going.

Things that are not growing are dead, my dear are you alive? Maybe it is time to dip your toes in the living water and stimulate that growth impulse. It is there even if it has been quiet for a long time. Everything you need for life, true life is inside you! Let’s grow together.