You read in my first post about reclaiming my garden that I planned to start in the middle and work to the right.  Then you walked with me as I found buried treasure, only to have the deer eat it by the next day.

So, I’ve got this big empty space, and now I’m moving to the right of the garden.  I enlarge the space, and then I see two day lilies right near the edge of the lawn.  Not next to each other, though.  There’s a pretty big space between them.

“I wonder why that space is there?  Did something die?”

And then I remember.  I built a stone path about 8 years ago.  Maybe it’s buried underneath everything too.

I start clearing the weeds in that spot.  I don’t see a stone.  Now I’m feeling with my hands.  Something hard.  It must be underneath the dirt.

Bingo.  Weeds and falling leaves brought soil, which has completely covered the stone.  If I wasn’t looking for it, I’d probably never know it’s there.

Now I’m digging.  And quickly find the edges.  Now I dig in earnest and uncover the entire outline of the stone.  I clean it off as best I can, and look.

(c) Kathleen Thompson

The start of the path.  I can’t see any other stones yet.  I don’t know if the path is curved or straight.  I just know there is one.  Because I found the beginning.  And now I’m excited to follow it.  See where it leads.  I know it leads from the front to the back of the garden, but don’t know exactly where.  It will be an adventure to find out.

This is kind of where I’m at in my life too.  With songwriting, I’ve found a path.  One I started building many years ago.  And where I have no idea where it will actually go.  Whether it’s curved or straight.  All I know is that it will be an adventure to find out.

Do you have something like that in your life right now?  Something you’ve started, and can’t really see the whole path?  Where only the first step is clear, and everything after that is hidden?  Standing on that stone without seeing the next one can feel a bit like playing hopscotch.  You’ve got one foot on a square and the other in the air, and you’re trying to pick up the stone and balance without falling over.  It can feel just a little dangerous.

And yet how exciting to not know?  To not be able to exactly predict what comes next?  How cool it is to know that we can be surprised and respond to those surprises with creativity and grace.   Because that happens more often than not.  Whether we like it or not.

Finding that first stone, that first step of the path, makes us want to keep going.  As long as we can live with the uncertainty.  Live in that unbalanced state for a while.

That’s what I encourage you to do.  If you find yourself starting on a path with an uncertain end, why not embrace it?  Let yourself feel that uncertainty.  Maybe even let it fuel you.  Because you'll get tired of standing on one foot.  Because you do want to move forward.

You will.  Because there is a path.  You just have to clear it.  Be willing to persist until you find the next step.

Feel free to share your story in the comments.