Get the Arcadia newsletter.
Leadership, community, and the occasional campfire story - straight to your inbox.
This Newsletter is brought to you by:
Still forcing partners into a portal?
With Introw, they register deals and co-sell from Claude, ChatGPT, Slack or Teams, so you can spend your time on relationships, not admin.
Hi Arcadians -
One of my happy places is my garden.
It’s not a big garden and certainly would be more cost effective to just buy a cucumber and 5 squash.
But the garden was never about that. We are expecting five inches of snow this weekend so last night I went outside for the final harvest and to pull everything out. And I couldn’t help but reflect on the summer.
Did you know that there are male and female flowers on a squash plant. The female flowers open only in the morning and if a bee doesn’t go from a male to a female flower in the short window of time, the plant will not produce fruit. The birds and bees is a real thing. This wasn’t happening so every morning I walked barefoot out my garden with coffee in hand and did a little artificial insemination. And it worked!
The complex cycle is all happening right under our nose on a random Tuesday when we are rushing around the kitchen worried about an assortment of things that really don’t matter.
I think I love the garden so much because it’s a reminder of all the things that are so easily ignored.
Things take time. And they need to be taken care of. There is a miraculous system taking place right in front of us but we are too busy to just feel our feet on the cold grass and pay attention.
The magic of having dirt on your hands and actually tending to something is becoming rare but it is a gift.
I also get lost in thought and as I was pulling the last of the carrots, I thought back to 4 months ago planting the seeds. In that time, a small seed grew to be an edible carrot and that is so cool.
But also, in that four months, I trained and ran the hardest race to date. I proved to myself that I am a runner. And more importantly, I proved to myself that with time, and proper care, I can be whatever I want. So can you.
Arcadia had our best event yet.
We were present for the 7th and 5th summer for our kids.
And, the life we’re building is intentionally set up to allow for that. Taking inventory and observing the life cycle of a carrot was a gift of reflection to take in the choices, daily habits and goals we’ve set for ourselves and realize - it’s working.
The seeds we planted a long time ago are starting to bloom. And sometimes we can forget to grab some coffee and look at how much growing has actually happened.
And, the things that we neglect, well they don’t seem to grow very well. So, how’s your garden?
Also, I grew a pumpkin - yes it’s green but you better believe I’m proud.
Happy growing.
Be Great,
Sam