how does your garden grow?

reflections from the past month or so + some updates

Perhaps like all humans, I’ve constantly outgrown things my whole life. There’s the shoes that I wore religiously as a kid that now have holes at the bottom. Or the hobbies that I used to love but have since passed me by. Even my hometown and home country started feeling too small in recent years, prompting me to move “abroad” to the United States.

I find myself now in a new phase of growth: outgrowing old ideas. This past year has been me reframing for myself of what journalism is, what environmentalism is, what life is about — and it’s made me let go a lot of what I used to hold onto. And letting go of those ideas, along with the connections I’ve made with those ideas, feels infinitely scary. Because what if there’s nothing on the other side? Am I growing in the right direction? What if it all goes wrong?

I joined my neighborhood community garden a couple months ago, and am finding this process of outgrowing — and regrowing — a lot like gardening. You choose seeds at the beginning of the season, nurture them, plant them, water them. Some will thrive, others will not. Some crops only stay for the season, while others come back year after year. I’m at the stage where I have a mostly empty planter. Now is the time when I decide what seeds and crops to cultivate.

At the moment, the questions how things will settle remained unanswered, so I’m just continuing on because I’m curious. Who is Alice becoming? Where will she be? What will her life look like? It’s a rare opportunity at the end of the day to have the opportunity to choose your own adventure. Embrace this time as you grow into the unknown, because life is full of possibilities.

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Some related content: The mindset shift that changed my 20s. | Life of Riza, actually, everyone’s life is weird | bookbear express

Some not-so-related content from the reading list: Remapping Science | Science, What Abortion Bans Do To Doctors | The Atlantic, How I Overcame Burnout and Actively Manage It Now (a Google Doc)

Some stories I published in the last month: 125 years of magazine covers, head-banging bumble bees, seasonal change of moral values (more stories on my website!)

Also, looking for recommendations for Washington, D.C.! I’m gonna be there for a couple days for a mental health journalism summit in October. It’s my first time visiting the city, so holla if you have any tips.