but some of us are looking at the stars

This plant caught my eye. It's growing in the barest scrape of dirt in the road by the kerb, and I marvel at its tenacity to survive and flourish against all the odds. But I kind of resent it too. I lavish care and attention on some of the plants in my border. They get a good grade multi-purpose compost, a seaweed feed, and regular weeding, and yet they don't look anywhere near as healthy, nor floriferous as this neglected weed. But this weed did spark some thoughts.

I'm going to wrestle to draw a parallel now, between the fact of this weed thriving in the gutter, and one of my writing projects. I can lavish much care and attention on a story idea. I can visit with it everyday for months, make notes, do research, write a draft, revise said draft, and even so, it will ultimately wither and perish. But then again, I can make a few scant notes on another story idea, throw the notebook into a drawer and forget about it for many months, sometimes even years, and then I'll suddenly rediscover it and find that it's more than held it's own, it has fed on my neglect, indeed the very seeds of that first idea have somehow bloomed in the dark into something very promising. And perhaps with only a small investment of time and effort on my part it might blossom into something very worthwhile.

So what is the moral of this story? Don't bin the weeds. Allow them to develop in their own way and in their own time. But do check in on them occasionally, you may be pleasantly surprised.

Photo is the author's own