A weekly invitation to transform from the inside out.
Happy Seed-Day!
Here's an idea (The Seed), a way to go deeper (The Soil), and a journal prompt (The Root) to explore.
I. The Seed
Cutting is the easy half. It is fast, it is visible, and you can point at it the same day.
But subtraction only makes room. It does not decide what the room is for.
The other half is slow, and nobody applauds it. You plant something that will not show its work for a season.
Cut toward something, and you have invested. Cut with nothing in mind and you have only made yourself smaller.
II. The Soil
Read: Physiology of Pruning Fruit Trees, from Virginia Tech's extension service. Horticulture is blunt in a way self help never is. Annual pruning always reduces a tree's yield. What it improves is the fruit. And the rush of new growth around the cut, it warns, "gives the illusion that pruning stimulates growth."
Then sit with this: cutting decides the shape. Only planting decides the size.
III. The Root
What did I cut this year, and did I ever decide what the room was for?
What is the slow thing I keep postponing because it will not pay off this month?
Until next week,
Jay Sueno
PS - There is a longer, more personal letter behind this one. The Long Paddle is my weekly writing on business, family, health, and building a life in Siargao. This week's is a letter to my daughter, who is almost two and will not read it for years. It is free at jaysueno.substack.com.
