Faith

"Faith is taking the first step, even when you don't see the whole staircase." -Martin Luther King Jr.

In one of my first journal entries I mentioned that I wanted a garden but I was so nervous to do it because I have killed every plant I ever owned. Since writing that first journal entry, I have planted three plants of my own (in organic soil, of course) in pots and they sit on my window sill soaking up the sun at this very moment. I have not yet planted food, but rather flowers. Towards the end of April I was given the opportunity to plant my own plants and I was excited to give it a try! Instead of planting one, I planted two. I had the same reservations about planting that I always had, and I felt like my plants weren't going to grow, but I tried it anyway! This is one of the biggest tests of life... Thinking that you can't do something, but trying it anyways. If you never take that leap of faith, you will never live to your fullest potential. This is one of the hardest parts of being a Sociologist... there are so many problems that we want to solve, but how do we know that we will make any kind of positive influence? We have explored a number of different societal problems over the past couple of months. Take King Corn for example... The two boys that planted an acre of corn had no idea if they were going to be able to better understand the corn industry and make a difference about it. However, after taking that leap of faith there was reward. They are now able to make the King Corn documentary available to the public. They are advocating the brokenness of the corn industry and better informing people like myself. Taking a slight risk also ended up paying off for me. After my first two plants sprouted up after only a few days of water and sun, I planted another and it has also begun to grow. Everyone always says it's the little things in life that matter the most, and I would have to agree. I only planted three flowers, but this has already given me the confidence and inspiration to grow my own garden in the future. This little step I made about trying to grow my own plants is going to help me contribute to the slow food system by allowing me to produce my own food one day.