March IWSG: A Plant out of Place

If you know me at all, you might remember comments about my struggles with nature during the growing season, at my pad. My favorite ‘me’ quote is “Nature versus Teresa and nature always wins”. So I couldn’t believe my recent moments of empathy—for weeds. How does my empathy for a weed relate to writing? Read on. 

This post was written for The Insecure Writer's Support Group and brought to you by founder Alex J Cavanaugh. This month Alex has the help of these co-hosts: Fundy Blue, Beverly Stowe McClure, Erika Beebe, and Lisa Buie-Collard! Please go visit them. I am not using the optional question for the IWSG, but here it is: Whose perspective do you like to write from best, the hero (protagonist) or the villain (antagonist)? And why?

My empathy for a weed was short lived but occurred while reading about growing blueberries in Missouri. Growing blueberries (or anything pretty or edible) in MO means you must be on guard 24/7 against the forces of nature, forces that will kill and destroy a plant and its fruit. The forces might include tricky soil and drainage, fungi, (plentiful) insects, deer, voles and birds. Here is the impact sentence written under Weed Control that nearly played with my emotions. It read, “A weed is defined as a plant out of place.”

Here's my moment of empathy. “Aww! Weeds are just doing their thing. Who are they to say they are out of place when all they are doing is trying to survive?"  Um, "they" are the experts. Being a person who has always marched to the beat of her own drummer, I sort of identified with the  plant out of place. My entire life I’ve apologized for being me! 

Most of the time, my writing feels like something out of place. 

With my writing, I do show up like a weed, and give it my best effort. The weed does not surrender easily. I like to think I don't either. These plants out of place do not say, "Oh it's too hot or cold." OR "This is hard work. I think I will stop now and surf the internet or check my email." Nope, weeds forge ahead. We should not give up either. Write what you love and in your own voice. If you feel discouraged, keep writing. No one can write your poetry, your songs, your stories or even paint your canvases with your style. Show your heart and voice by doing you. You are your own drummer and must march to your own beat. Be a weed, man! 

A really great thing about participating in the IWSG blogging event each month is that we can read about the struggles of other writers and find that we are not alone in our insecure feelings. 

What about the blueberries? I might give it a try. Then after fighting nature a.k.a. Japanese Beetles, wormy things, fungi, deer and voles, soil ph., temperature and rainfall fluctuations for 60-80 days, I could harvest a berry or two. Remember that whether you are writing or growing blueberries, the journey is just as important as the fruit--unless you're really hungry or can't pay your bills. There is that.

T.

 Do you ever feel like plant out of place in your writing or craft?