It’s March 1st and our long winters “rest” is about to come to a close. I am excited for flowers again, but dare I say that I am not feeling quite ready to dive back into the intensity of field work or the heat. It’s not even hot out and yet I find myself feeling dread about under boob sweat … and sweat in general. Nevermind that I am definitely getting hot flashes more and more as the inevitability of my age sets in, and a hot flash in the middle of summer heat and humidity is an experience I’d rather skip; thank you very much.

But here we are … the forsythia branches are showing color, the daffodils are poking through the soil and in no time, this forced weather reprieve of “slow down” will be over. What I’m trying to figure out is how I can head into this season without assuming that this year will look like the last one. Because I’ll be honest, there might be some genuine trauma embedded in my nervous system after 2022.

It’s 2023. Say it out loud with me: “It’s 2023!” It is a new year, with new plans, new employees, new experiences, new sales, new flowers and none of it will include: moving, home renovation, building a greenhouse or a pavilion or a walk in cooler or a deer fence, or writing checks in the tens of thousands for all of that AND a new water well and electric trenching. The year of the massive build is over.

So what DOES 2023 have in store for us? We’re working on growth. That single word encapsulates our vision. We are going to grow. Grow revenue, sales channels, the flower fields, the hired help, the collaborations, the research, the education and the farm events. We’re going to grow all of those things as much as humanely possible and …. what else?

WE are going to grow. We’re going to grow as a couple, as parents and as business partners. We are going to grow emotionally, spiritually and in our ability to commit to finding more balance for health and healing. We’ve neglected ourselves, and we can’t ignore those needs forever. We know this … and now it’s time to do something about it.

Entrepreneurship has pushed us to grow in ways we never would have been pushed had we stayed put in our comfortable life. You read about this a lot, this thing called the “entrepreneurial mindset.” Sometimes it sounds so cliche’ and I tend to eye roll over these trending buzz words, but now that we’re “in it,” I get it. It is a mindset; one that is constantly evolving and changing. It requires constant check ins with “self.” Is that a thought I’m having or a feeling? does it make sense? does the feeling match up with the data before me? If not, what is going on and how do I move forward?

These internal conversations are constant for Tom and I. The good news is that we have each other and we make sure to talk about all of it. We do a lot of talking about these things. And what we always come back to, nearly every time we’re tired, overwhelmed, stuck or afraid is:

What decision facilitates growth?

If we can get to the bottom of that question, the decision and path forward is usually easy. The work may be hard, but we can handle that. It’s the decision to grow that gets us clogged up for a bit. Fortunately, we don’t stay “clogged” for long.

In 2023 we’re just going go back to basics and insert the word “grow'" as much as possible. I suspect we’ll be glad we did by March 1st of 2024..