On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

Whenever I need a boost, I reread Write Smart, Write Happy by award-winning author Cheryl St. John. Here’s an uplifting excerpt:

More than once I’ve heard the mind compared to land or soil. Land is lying there, available. If you have a yard or a garden, you know this. A farmer knows it, up close and personal. Land doesn’t have an opinion about what becomes of it; it’s ready for anything. If no one ever plows or plants seeds or fertilizes, the land will produce only weeds. Maybe a stray wildflower or tree seed will happen by, and if the weather permits and there is adequate rain and sun, those seeds will grow into plants. Anything that grows is by happenstance.

But a farmer can plow and prepare the soil and plant any crop he wishes—anything from corn to deadly nightshade. Land doesn’t care. It will produce whatever is planted. But land always returns what is planted.

The same is true for our minds. We can let our minds fall idle to whatever happens to fall in and take root. Or we can create goals, prepare our thoughts, and plant success. Our minds don’t care what we plant, but whatever we plant is what will grow and be returned to us.

Source: Write Smart, Write Happy by Cheryl St. John, p. 256