We often talk about the struggles of being blocked for ideas or creative projects, but what about the opposite problem: when we have more projects or possibilities than time?
The story of Basie the Basil Plant
This past spring, I was determined to start an herb garden in my backyard. We’d been in our new house for three years by that point, and between the pandemic and just life in general, I had yet to plant anything. So, I headed to the local garden store, picked up some basil and other favorites, and planted them in one of our flower beds. The plant looked something like this:
Living in Texas, it can be hard to keep plants alive during the summer due to, you know, it being hot enough to melt your face off, but I was hopeful this time. I had strategically placed my little basil plant in the shade and was keeping a close eye on him, watering him and giving him pep talks. (Also, I’d decided he was a ‘him,’ apparently.)
Soon enough, my little plant- Basie, I called him- had taken root and quickly shot up into a much bigger plant.
As spring turned to summer, Basie was thriving so much that I no longer had to be careful about how many leaves I took from him- there were plenty to go around. Caprese salads for everyone! Pesto out the wazoo! I’m beginning to regret naming my plant baby, because this feels mildly cannibalistic! I was a gardening goddess, awash in a sea of sweet-smelling leaves, and I’d saved literally tens of cents by growing my own herbs instead of buying them. I WAS UNSTOPPABLE!!
Basil burnout
As the summer wore on and Basie grew taller and wider. He didn’t resemble a small plant as much as a giant, delicious bush, like a botanical version of The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
Soon, Basie was so big and unwieldy that he started tipping over, and some of his stems were starting to turn yellow. After some quick Googling, I realized that Basie needed to be trimmed. (Okay, I’m gonna drop this whole plant baby thing now, or it’s gonna get real dark in a minute).
Essentially though, my basil plant was growing too much for its own good. If I let it continue on this way, soon the leaves wouldn’t taste good anymore, and eventually the plant would die. It was expending so much energy trying to provide nutrients to all of its stems and leaves that the whole plant was suffering as a result. The only way to save it was to prune it. A lot.
I ended up cutting my basil plant down to about a third of its former size. I pruned away the dead leaves, but I also cut off plenty of leaves that were healthy. It felt wrong cutting off large parts of this plant that were perfectly good, and at one point I worried I was taking off too much. Then, to make myself feel better about the waste, I gave away as many of the basil sprigs as I could and hung up the rest in my pantry to dry and use later.
Sure enough, the part of the plant that I left began to thrive again. It started growing straighter. The dead parts of the plant died off and the rest of it came back with a vengeance. The leaves I had left seemed bigger and healthier. The plant didn’t have to spread its resources so thin, and it flourished as a result.
Creative projects are like…basil?
We often talk about the struggles of being blocked for ideas or creative projects, but what about the opposite problem: when we have more projects or possibilities than time?
If you’re like me, just recognizing this as a problem is often the hardest part! I’m not sure if its optimism or delusion- or a little of both- but even after decades as a creator, I still have trouble accepting that I simply can’t do all the things I want to do. Tough decisions have to be made. Leaves have to be pruned.
So how do you know it’s time to prune? It will look different for everyone. Some people thrive on having many projects running at the same time, while others do better taking on one thing at a time. But in general, here are some signs you might benefit from taking some things off your plate:
- You’re tired all the time.
- You aren’t putting out your best work.
- You’re missing deadlines.
- You often feel anxious, irritable, or rushed.
- You aren’t sure what you’re working towards anymore.
- You keep moving goal posts once you reach them.
- You never feel like you’re doing enough.
- You no longer get joy out of your work.
Feel personally attacked by this list? Then it might be time to get out the pruning shears. That means, just like with little Basie, some perfectly good projects are going to have to be trimmed off and given away or stored for another day. It’s hard to do, but it’s the only way to keep the plant (that’s you!), alive and thriving.
The good news is that once you’ve done the hard work of letting go, you’ll likely feel a lot better. Now you have more resources to put into the things you left on your plate, which means they will benefit even more! And more importantly, you are taking care of and being kind to yourself. That means you’re at less risk of burnout, you’ll be kinder to those around you, and you’ll actually enjoy the creative process. And isn’t that kind of the point?
How do you choose what to prune and what to keep? Well, that’s another post.