To See Things in a Seed

I am in love with seeds. The idea. The potential. The possibilities locked in such a concise space. The growth. The wonder. The mystery.

My newest passion is to make my yard as edible as possible. I have planted heirloom seeds, rooted cuttings, and grafted trees. I have turned large areas of the yard into vegetable bed and trellised fences. I spend my evenings reading vegetable seed packets, taking notes as to which to soak and when to plant. It is calming as well as exciting to tune into mother nature’s rhythms.

Every design idea starts with such a seed.

I am reminded of the words by Cynthia Occelli: “For a seed to achieve its greatest expression, it must come completely undone. The shell cracks, its insides come out and everything changes. To someone who doesn’t understand growth, it would look like complete destruction.”

The design process reminds me of the messy process of growth. The messy brainstorming sessions where anything is possible.

Time to chew. Let an idea rest in the back of the mind where it can grow and develop into something beautiful.

“To see things in the seed, that is genius.”

— Lao Tzu