Image by Courtney Smith on Unsplash

One summer I decided to grow tomatoes.

It's no secret - homegrown tomatoes are a thousand times better than grocery store tomatoes. Little did I know that Louisiana residents need a whole different level of dedication to make it happen.

Every morning before work, I stood outside my apartment and watered two tomato plants in 100-something degree weather. And every morning, I stood in my work clothes sweating, swatting mosquitoes, and trying to tame hair that grew bigger with every minute of humidity.

Finally I saw tomatoes appear! I watched them day after day. And kept watering. And sweating.

Then one day, the tomatoes were finally ready. I picked them, made a salad, and

...it was done.

Here's what I learned that summer:

There are MANY more sowing days than reaping days.

Sowing days and reaping days. I started using this language with my husband years ago. He'd ask the normal question, "How was your day?"

And so many times, I would answer "It was a blah day." Boring stuff, nothing special. No awards won, contracts signed, grants funded.

I had spent the day doing things like reading articles for a literature review. Or reconciling a grant budget after a month of expenses. Or meeting with a potential client who wasn't going to work out. A blah day.

But we realized the blah days matter. They needed to be rebranded to something we felt proud of.

Sowing days.

On sowing days, nothing big happens. But we are glad to have worked hard. Learned. Met someone new.

Sowing days are worth celebrating too.

I am telling you this on December 19, as we all are reflecting on the last year.

Maybe you've had a lot more sowing days in 2023 than reaping days. That's normal - I spent 50 days nurturing tomato plants and maybe three days picking tomatoes!

So when your family goes around the table sharing 2023 updates, don't say you've had a blah year. You can be proud to answer:

"In 2023 I had one win, and a LOT of sowing days!"