A Very Big Pile

I had one of our local tree contractors drop off a load of woodchips this week. There are so many places where they will be helpful in our yard! Also? It is a very large pile.

Remember.

Remember to honor the small beginning.

The first shovel of woodchips into the wheelbarrow.

Or the first load of wood stacked onto the wood pile (which was something else we did this week).

Or one more handful of weeds plucked and deposited into the trash can.

There’s a lot to do still.

So much!

It’s such a tiny start.

Part of you shrieks that you will never get it all done. There is too much. Too much! So why even bother? Why even begin? Your phone and endless Instagram reels call to you, sweet sirens that bid you sit and surrender, just for a minute.

Somehow, you resist the lure of the Instagram reels.

You put on your shoes. You go outside. You begin the work. You don’t do much. Hardly anything. You only had a few minutes. But something, even the tiniest bit, is infinitely more than nothing. Something fills up space. Something leaves nothing far behind.

You begin. Because you know that even this littlest bit helps you. You feel better. You started the day feeling crabby and overwhelmed, but you went outside and moved two wheelbarrow loads of woodchips. Just two! It did not make a dent in the pile. You can’t even tell!

But it matters. The little bit. Your little bit.

And the little bit today can be joined by a little bit tomorrow, and all the bits and all the tomorrows will eventually move that pile.

Honor the small beginning.

The small beginning heals.

Maybe this doesn’t make much sense.

(It’s also a small, rough beginning for a blog post. But it’s what I’ve got tonight. So for now?)

Today. Tonight. For me. (Maybe for you, too?) Honor the small beginning. It’s where we start. It’s how we change. One wheelbarrow load at a time.