A few years ago, someone pointed out to me that we all have a need, a drive, to create and bring life into the world. This deeply resonated with me, as I was struggling through some difficult challenges with my health at the time, and while I often laid in bed, I dreamed of bringing to life to the world through an idea. I had this idea for several years, but it was still nebulous. Slowly, it started taking shape. Before I even knew Cultivate was going to someday be a “real thing”, I was already dreaming of bringing it to life. It was incredibly hard to wait back then. I wanted so badly to start working on my dream. However, my body and circumstances prevented me. I wasn’t ready despite my deep desire. And I had to learn to wait. Waiting has never come easy for me. I doubt it comes easy for many people! But waiting is a stage of life that every person experiences. Some of us embrace it, some of us fight it, some of us fluctuate daily in our response to it. But no matter our response, there’s very little that we can do to change the outcome; if waiting is where you’re standing, there’s no way to run away from it. I found that waiting was much easier to deal with, when I saw the possibilities of what I could do in the midst of the wait. I began to fill myself with everything I could come across that somehow would be useful in the future – reading, podcasts, looking for others who were doing admirable things. I saw that in the waiting, I was becoming the person that I need to be to ensure that Cultivate would someday become a reality. Eventually, my circumstances started to change. I saw a light at the end of the tunnel. The possibility of Cultivate took shape. It was time for me to begin creating.
And now, almost seven years after my idea first took root in me, Cultivate is real.
Creating is never a passive stance. It must be an active, purposeful, and careful endeavor. So many times I have feared the decisions I’ve had to make, as I work to create Cultivate, because I know the weight of what I am doing. I wonder if I am doing the wrong things, if I am not being careful and purposeful enough. I fear that I will hurt Cultivate in my act of creating. I now see Cultivate as my contribution to the world, and just like raising a child, I want to invest everything I have to make sure that it grows strong. So that someday I can look back on this time and stand proud in the life that I brought to the world.
-Elaine, Executive Director
