The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur

September 15Prune and Water

Genius will live and thrive without training, but it does not the less reward the watering pot and pruning knife. Let the mind fix its own course, and it is apt to fix too exclusively on a pursuit or set of pursuits to which it will devote itself till there is not strength for others.

Margaret Fuller—Papers on Literature and Art (1846)

Is there more to life than feeding ourselves, binge-watching the latest Netflix exclusive, and paying the mortgage? Rhetorical? Maybe not?

We can survive—I imagine most of you reading this book know how to do that—but what if the goal is something beyond thriving?

Fuller uses the word “genius” often to describe a form of higher living and thriving, and in this passage, she injects the notion of watering and pruning as practices required for anything to both grow and perhaps thrive.

A plant will grow just about anywhere if it receives enough light and moisture. If it climbs at all, it will choose the path of least resistance—it will survive.

But to flourish, a plant needs care—it needs focus, it needs to nurture its strengths, it needs the right blend of soil, water, light. And yes, it even needs kindness, support, and encouragement, as all living things do.

This seems like a good time to share stand-up comedian Mitch Hedberg's best plant joke: “My fake plants died because I did not pretend to water them.”

So, what requires watering? Gratitude, love, courage, openness?

And what requires pruning? What requires attention, ...