How to Grow a Thought: Lessons from a Tulip

By Hannah Bea Kropp

A response to the quote “Tend to your thoughts with care. They have the power to grow weeds or flowers.” - Cleo Wade

Rest is an undervalued part of growth.
There is a lot that we can learn from a garden and the plants that live there.
A garden is a space where pressure does not work.
It is not a race.
It takes patience and time.
The flower or whatever will grow when it feels like it.
You can not rush it.
It needs to rest.

In the fall, we plant bulbs in the nearly frozen ground.
We let them lie under a blanket of frost and snow for the next few months.
Then come spring time, when
and if they are ready,
they will bloom.

They bloom as a reminder of what rest and care can do.

Take a lesson from a tulip:
- Taking time to grow is okay...in fact...it’s needed
- Get comfortable, find a cozy blanket and just lay for a while
- Only bloom on your schedule

Thoughts can grow in every direction.
They can be messy and complicated
but each have the capability of becoming something beautiful.

Be kind to each individual thought.
Give them love and rest.
It takes work to form them and even more work to develop them into actions.
Deep breaths
Cozy blanket
Time.

Do not skip the rest part of the manual.