Planting seeds

I learned early in life about the value of planting seeds. My parents had a vegetable garden to help feed the family and we would all pitch in, even me as a young child, and help tend the garden and plant the seeds that would become the next harvest. We couldn't simply plant them and walk away though; We had to nurture the seeds, feed them, care for them and help them become that bounteous harvest we would enjoy later on. It was happy work, but not always easy.

It wasn't until much later in life I realised that the same principle can be applied to relationships between myself and others. I wasn't the type to callously throw them around of course, however I realised that I could treat them a little better than I was, nurture them more. Relationships start like a seed, small, and only through care and effort can they grow into lasting things. It's a little like an oak tree beginning its life as an acorn which needs a combination of elements to come together over time to allow the acorn to develop into the tree.

Nowadays I tend to nurture relationships with a great deal of care and effort, I suppose because most of those I have are long-standing ones that have developed over years of contact and shared interest. I still care for them though and feed them with respect, courtesy and honesty and am rewarded in kind.

A word on the image:

The three sculptures are by Peter Randall-Page and are displayed at Castle Drogo, Devon, England. They are carved from Limestone and stand more than 2.5m (8 feet) tall, weighing in at 12 tonnes.

From the Natioinal Trust web page:

Fructus, Corpus and Phyllotaxus are sculptures that are extraordinary in scale and are carved from Kilkenny limestone, a sedimentary stone formed in coastal areas over millions of years teeming with fossilised remains of plant and animal life giving the material its characteristic appearance. The trio of scultpures on show at Drogo represent the major themes that the artist has explored over many years; the geometry within the natural order and the mathematic principles underlying organic growth, natural patterns and phenomena.