stop cutting your flowers

Maybe your garden isn't growing because every time a flower grows you cut it to prove to someone that you're a gardener.

Dearest Gentle Reader,

I once had a friend who lived his whole life trying to prove he was worth admiring. Every new project and every small success became another opportunity to say, “See? I’m doing well too.” He didn’t know how to just grow in the shadows with zero desire for accolades. He needed witnesses, always. Each time something beautiful started to blossom in his life, he’d cut it too soon just to hold it up for everyone to see. And after the applause faded, he’d look down at his empty hands and wonder why nothing ever lasted.

If you look within introspectively, you’d realise that many of us live like that.

If you’ve ever felt like your garden isn’t growing, maybe it’s because every time a flower blooms, you pluck it to prove to someone that you’re a gardener. You keep uprooting the evidence of your progress just to earn the applause of those who will never bother to water you.

We live in an age where everything must be shown on social media. Most people are so obsessed with ‘peppering others’ so much that they can’t wait to share every percieved joyful or victorious moment on their WhatsApp statuses just to get validated before it’s even ready.

You start something beautiful—say… an idea, a habit, a prayer life, a dream—and before it takes root, you rush to post it or boast about it. Then, when the soil looks bare again, you say, “Why is nothing growing?”

But growth doesn’t die when neglected. It dies when displayed too soon.

I am of the opinion that there’s a sacred kind of patience in letting your flowers bloom quietly, away from curious eyes and quick judgments. Not every beautiful thing must be public. Not every season needs proof. Some gardens thrive best in silence.

See, you owe no one a demonstration of your diligence. The garden knows you’ve been tending it. The soil remembers every drop of sweat. God sees every seed you’ve planted, every tear that watered it, every night you almost gave up on your dreams. He does not need you to perform your progress; He’s cultivating something in you that can’t be quantified by views, likes or comments.

So, let the garden grow, darl. Allow those flowers stretch toward the sun without the pressure of validation.

And when the time is right (when your heart is steady and your roots are deep enough to withstand naysays and shake off ego-boasters) God Himself will make your garden a testimony. You know what’s beautiful about that?? The purpose will be not to prove that you were a gardener, but to prove that He is still the Giver of growth.

Until then, keep your scissors away from your flowers!

— Jaachịmmá Anyatọnwụ
The Bard Influencer

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