Courtesy of Fandroid on YouTube
"Yet another Janelle Monae reference?", you ask? In this particular instance, it behooved your humble blogger to share the message in the above song, given the time of year and its deeper meaning. Now that the weather is starting to break, many are in celebration mode, enjoying the benefits springtime has to offer (sun, plants in bloom, change of clothes, etc.). However, as nature teaches us, this season is not just for enjoyment, but reflection and upkeep.
Returning to aformentioned song, a particular line has been particularly hitting home for yours truly lately:
"...cause when the rain falls, my seed will grow/ I'll be further to my dreams tomorrow"
The seed metaphor was particualarly intriguing, considering how nature works. We just came out of the Lenten season, which could be seen as a time of preparation in the same way nature requires soil to be prepared for sowing seed. The latter consists of eliminating weeds, loosening the soil, and working it with various gardening tools. Lent sees those who participate in it doing likewise-eliminating, loosening, and using tools in the form of fasting to make improvements to our lives.
After the preparation comes the sowing and watering (i.e. rain, manual watering). In our lives, "watering" can come in the form of challenges or trials. As the verse above implies,that's when the seed grows.Victory!!!
Almost-
It could be easy to sit back and relax and enjoy the blooming flower, but keeping it blooming requires maintenance. The same is true for our lives. Now that we made it to Easter, reverting to the things we were trying to get rid of during Lent can be very tempting. Just like blooms in springtime, our lives need upkeep after we achieved the desired progress. This includes reflecting on said progress and attending to any challenges to it. The aforementioned lyric is telling in this sense in that Janelle notes that she'll "be further" to her dreams, not already there. There's work to be done.
This season has a bounty for us to appreciate and enjoy. All that is for naught, though, if time isn't taken out to look back at what it took to get that bounty. That includes using the lessons from the preparation to address any obstacles to growth.. It's then and only then can the victor, as they say, get the spoils. Nature teaches this well.
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