Words to Live By: Twyla Tharp

"When you're in a rut, 

you have to question everything 

except 

your ability to get out of it."

-Twyla Tharp

Dancer, Choreographer

From her book,
 The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life

Poetic Justice

In case you were wondering what my dog, Cloey Margaret, was up to, my daughter has written a poem which pretty much sums up her most recent antics.
Enjoy!

Music Legend Levon Helm: Stick with the Fun Stuff

"I don't fool with a lot of things that I can't have fun with. There's not much reward in that. For instance, after we mixed the album that you couldn't hear over a speaker, I shied away from engineering, you might say." 

-Levon Helm

Drummer/ Singer/
Songwriter/ Actor

1984 interview with Modern Drummer

Words to Live By: Mark Twain

The two most important days in your life are

the day you are born 

and 

the day you find out why.

-Mark Twain

Fame, Fortune and Dreaming Big

By the time I hit the ripe old age of 16, my ambitions had taken on a life of their own.  Every dream career I concocted was infinitely possible and grandly desirable, especially when the career field was fraught with stiff competition and low success rates among those who chose to pursue it. 

Queen of the Long Shots was I. 

"I'm gonna live forever..."

Defying 
Gravity

And what was to stop me from dreaming big? I had the larger-than-life 80's hairdo going on, why not have the dreams to go with it?

As I got older, however, the lack of specificity in all those dreams became increasingly apparent. My 16 year-young, chock-full-o'-hairspray self had somehow failed to address the specifics of how and even why I wanted to live out those dreams. (There must be some study out there linking heavy hairspray use to poor long-term planning, but I haven't come across it yet.)

Once in a while I ponder that journey from 16 to my, uh, age now, and consider how those youthful, nebulous dreams didn't really fade, but rather evolved into a higher level of sophistication. For example, I recall that in my early days money and fame were always an integral part of my dreams of success. Of course, I never outwardly admitted that belief because I considered myself a good, conscientious person, and a good, conscientious person shouldn't care about things like that, right? But I'll admit today that those less-than-noble ambitions were infinitely present, always lurking in the back of my mind like gauntlets I'd thrown down to hold myself accountable.

Now that I'm able to look back and reflect- and hindsight is 20/20, of course- it's easy for me to see how money and fame were the most accessible ambitions to shoot for, especially since I didn't have any specific goals up my sleeve at the time.

Ah, Mr. Robin Leach.
I hope that vest didn't cost you
 a fortune.

Of course, the constant reminders in society extolling the importance of celebrity and wealth made them easy targets. 'Twas the 80's, and everyone (that I was paying attention to, anyway) seemed to value fortune-building over character-building.

But ultimately I recognized that my career ambitions came down to my own choosing. I could listen to how society-at-large defined success. And I could choose to set standards so high that I could never live up to those ever-elusive dreams.

Madonna: before 
her blonde ambition
took over

On the other hand, I could choose to make my dreams clearer and more thoughtful and personal. I could choose to dig deeper and uncover what truly motivated me, beyond material rewards and far-reaching recognition. I could broaden my concept of success while also breaking down goals into easier-to-attain steps.

Once I was able to look beyond these familiar trappings I discovered how much richer dreams can be when they come from an authentic place, born out everything I believe in and need to do. Like expressing my talent for the love of it, making a positive impact in people's lives, and striving for solid financial health versus enormous wealth.

My notion of fame thankfully has evolved as well, maturing from an insatiable appetite for widespread recognition to a yearning for broader social impact. I find that I'm now driven by a need to mobilize my expertise and knowledge to tackle career conventions that are in desperate need of repair. But I'm also equally invigorated when I've helped one person create a successful new game plan for their life or enabled them to use their talents in a brand new way. These individual partnerships have rewarded me in ways I'd never imagined.

But then again, are we ever able to accurately imagine what will drive us in the future? Maybe not. Or maybe, just maybe, if we can come to terms with who we are, what we believe in, and what we're good at, we might catch a glimpse at what our future holds.

Do Something Today

Do something

TODAY. 

Make someone’s life easier.

Solve a problem. Listen. 

Take initiative. 

Don’t wait for the perfect opportunity to help. 

Just do something SMALL. 

Don't sacrifice ACTION by thinking too big.

You 

can 

DO 

some thing 

TODAY.

Photo: wikimedia commons

Sprouting a Business, One Seedling at a Time

I'll readily admit that nothing excites me more than watching an innovative business idea come to life. And when it's a friend's great idea, it's all the sweeter.

My friend, Rebecca Carpenter, worked for many years as a successful brand strategist to large corporations and non-profits. She enjoyed the work- in spite of its ups and downs- but eventually she found she was ready for a change of scenery; she just didn't know what kind of scenery that entailed. All she knew was that something was missing in her work and, when she became a mother, she decided to take time while raising her little boy to discover what the missing pieces might be. 

Fostering A New Interest

What better way to unearth new interests than by taking up hobbies? While still consulting in brand strategy, Rebecca casually sampled several creative endeavors on the side such as writing and crafting beautiful things. She even sold some of her handmade items on Etsy.

But one interest particularly stuck with her: gardening. In the backyard of her family's townhouse, she had started a vegetable garden. She began by experimenting with different plants from one season to the next and found that she loved working outdoors with the soil, testing various compost combinations and lighting environments that would yield optimal results. However, realizing that trial and error could only take her so far, she enrolled in a gardening class. That's when she knew she was hooked; suddenly Rebecca had discovered an untapped fascination with horticulture.

Her enthusiasm was so great that it motivated her to enroll in a master gardening program. It was here that she'd soon learn how to nurture plants organically, finding alternatives to chemical fertilizers and sprays. This type of gardening, using only organic methods, appealed to Rebecca in so many ways. She not only enjoyed the challenge of natural garden care but also the peace of mind it brought her.


Following Her Enthusiasm

At this point, my friend didn't quite know where organic gardening would take her, only that she loved it. She decided to devote more time and energy to it because organic gardening was something she really believed in and felt good about doing. By allowing her interests to evolve slowly and naturally, she was, in effect, allowing her life to unfold organically, not unlike her gardening philosophy.

Along with her growing passion for gardening, Rebecca had another, related interest that she'd been fostering for years: eating and serving delicious, organic, nutrient-rich whole food. She began reading numerous books about the food and farming industries and became more and more convinced that growing ones own organic food- or, at the very least, getting closer to the source of one's food- was essential to good health, well-being, and a necessary component of protecting of our planet.

Sharing Her Enthusiasm with Others

Ever an entrepreneur at heart, Rebecca couldn't help but ponder whether this pairing of interests- gardening and eating organically harvested foods- might somehow result in a business. She brainstormed with friends and quickly discovered that organic kitchen gardens, in particular, seemed to dominate the conversation.

Several really great questions sprang from this brainstorming session, such as:

Do a lot of people want to grow their own food but don't have the time, energy or know how?

Could she solve that problem by helping people grow their own organic food?

Was there a general misconception out there, dictating that people have to live in single family homes with big yards to have a kitchen garden?

What about helping people grow container gardens, so that it didn't matter whether they lived in an apartment with just a balcony or a town home with a tiny back patio?

And if people had a yard, what if, as part of her service, she were able to build the beds for her clients, so that they didn't have to worry about time, labor or not having a so-called green thumb?

Rebecca became excited. She was getting lots of "yes" responses to the above questions from friends and family and the research she'd done. Could this be her new path to take? She even had a perfect company name picked out:

"Sprout."

But, just as she felt her heart beating faster when she thought about launching this business, doubts streamed in as fast as the possibilities. Yes, she had an M.B.A. from The University of Virginia and years of business experience under her belt, but Rebecca still had hesitations about going into this venture full throttle. She went back and forth, deliberating between starting this as a business or keeping it as a hobby she felt passionate about.

Then it dawned on her: why not launch a sort of hybrid program? (I think this is a brilliant strategy, by the way, and something few entrepreneurial spirits do.) Rebecca determined that she would launch a small project versus a big business. There would be no twenty page business plan, no huge investment of money, no board of directors or even ridiculous commitments of time. No, she would start small, but treat the project as if it were a business.

A Project is Born

To keep start-up costs at a bare minimum, she ordered free business cards online, created a no-cost, simply designed website and logo herself, and began blogging about her gardening experience. She pinned interesting garden ideas, photos and recipes on Pinterest and Facebook. She came up with checklists for clients' needs and formulated a process that included an initial "intake" session, wherein she'd meet with the client first to discuss their desires for a garden as well as their time and maintenance limitations.

Rebecca,
taking notes in the journal she keeps
for all clients.

Once she had set up the scaffolding of her business project via social media, Rebecca began slowly spreading the word to close friends and family about her new venture, Sprout Kitchen Gardens. Within these smaller social circles she asked for volunteers to take part in her project. Of course, when she told yours truly about this new endeavor I was absolutely ecstatic. I believe my specific reaction was, "Where do I sign up?!"

After all, I had tried and failed to create a productive vegetable garden in the past, and eventually gave up because of the large amounts of time spent for abysmal output. But I truly did want a garden; I just couldn't make it happen with my busy schedule, lack of knowledge, and sunlight challenges. (Our house backs to woods and much of my yard is covered in shade.) So here was an offer I couldn't refuse: someone else would choose the plants and pots, figure out the sunlight and soil requirements, tell me how much to water them and enable me to have better results. Also included: trouble-shooting as the plants matured.

What wasn't to love?



Gardening Guru

As you can see from the pictures, I ended up signing on as one of Sprout's first customers! Our whole family is really into our kitchen garden, and we're able to tend to it very easily, primarily because my gardening guru, Rebecca, set us up for success, giving us several easy-to-implement tips.

A lovely bowl of greens, straight from my garden!

My friend wisely encouraged me to try a container garden on our deck, right off of our kitchen, the only place that gets full sun all day.

I was skeptical, I'll admit, when Rebecca suggested that location. I thought all of the plants would roast from being in the hot Virginia sun all day, as my failed flower attempts had in the past. I figured I'd have to water them at least two times a day just to keep them from withering under the broiling heat. Not so, she insisted. It turns out that vegetable plants are a bit more forgiving than flowers, especially when you use really good, rich soil to begin with. And Rebecca set up my garden so that all of the pots can be sufficiently watered just once a day, from one hefty watering can, filled up at the kitchen sink every morning.

Wild Life

She also helped me solve the problem of pilfering animals. Now, you might think that I'm referring to the usual suspects like squirrels, birds or deer, but actually they tend to leave my garden alone since it's on our deck. (Another benefit of the container garden!)

Rather, the culprit is none other than our beloved pet Golden Retriever, Cloey Margaret. (If you read this blog faithfully then you are not surprised a bit about our resident thief.) But thankfully Rebecca advised me to put up nets around the most tempting of plants to prevent Cloey from harvesting her own food.

That lovely, juicy red strawberry pictured above? Cloey snatched it up, seconds after I proudly snapped a picture of my first fruit grown EVER.

"Don't look at me!"

Check Out Sprout!

Check out Rebecca's fantastic blog, sproutkitchengardens.com, and read more about her great business project. You'll get some fantastic organic recipes and wonderful tips for gardening.

AND... drum roll please... click HERE to see Rebecca's post entitled "Katie's Garden", explaining how she planted my garden!