People have often told me that I'm good at planting seeds.
Not the kind that grow in a garden.
The kind that grow in people.
For a long time, I didn't fully understand what they meant. I wasn't always the person standing at the front of the room. I wasn't trying to convince people that my way was the only way. I simply shared ideas, asked questions, and invited others to look at things a little differently.
Then I stepped back.
And watched.
Sometimes nothing seemed to happen.
An activity idea wasn't used.
A suggestion wasn't discussed.
A conversation ended without any obvious change.
It would have been easy to think those moments didn't matter.
But over the years, I've learned something important.
Seeds don't grow the moment they're planted.
Some take days.
Some take months.
Some take years.
As an occupational therapist, I often planted seeds without realizing it.
Maybe it was encouraging a caregiver to slow down and notice what someone was communicating without words.
Maybe it was helping a staff member see ability instead of disability.
Maybe it was showing someone that participation could look different than they had imagined.
Those weren't just activities.
They were seeds.
Today I still find myself planting seeds.
Through a blog post.
A podcast.
A Make It Monday video.
A handmade card.
A conversation over coffee.
A workshop.
A quiet comment that says, "Have you ever thought about trying it this way?"
I rarely know where those seeds will land.
Sometimes they take root immediately.
Sometimes they wait until someone is ready.
And sometimes I may never know they grew at all.
I've come to realize that isn't my job.
My job is simply to keep planting.
To keep sharing.
To keep noticing.
To keep encouraging possibilities.
Because every once in a while, someone writes to tell me they remembered something I shared months—or even years—earlier.
An idea finally made sense.
A caregiver tried something new.
An individual was included in a different way.
A family felt seen.
That's when I realized the seed had been growing all along.
We live in a world that often celebrates immediate results.
But some of the most meaningful work doesn't happen overnight.
It happens quietly.
One conversation.
One idea.
One act of kindness.
One invitation.
One seed at a time.
So, if you're wondering whether what you're doing matters, keep going.
Keep planting.
You may never see every flower that grows.
But that doesn't mean your seeds didn't make a difference.