ROOTS & DEEDS
I wonder what is the hardest moment for a seed… Being planted and having to rest in darkness without the ability to see? An existence of faith based on nothing more than hope? Or is it the moment they have to stretch their roots deeper, when they had been promised they would go higher? Will it ever come? Or is it the moment they are pushing through the surface? The moment that will determine and define so much of their life, the moment that requires so much strength- to literally push through. Only, what if they gave up? What if they didn’t know that in the light everything would make so much more sense? What if they didn’t know how very worth it, it all was? The joy that would come from growing, unfolding, and blooming even in the midst of storms and seasons. No season can ever seem to undermine the blooming of a flower in spring. Or the fullness of an apple in fall. Growth is something that never seems to go out of style or become irrelevant. The things we say and do, are as valuable as seeds. They are the difference between a field of flowers and those without. It is actions that transform what was once a plot of land into an orchard. Actions to plant, cultivate, and harvest.
What we do not plant will not grow; we cannot harvest from what we have not done.
I can only imagine the ways we would starve if a farmer saw a plot of land, and simply because there was nothing there, did not begin the process to plant anyways. Seeds are an investment into the future, if we do not sew with the perspective of what is to come something in us will be starved; Without growth and without fulfillment. Results take careful cultivation and action, what is not done is not the same as what cannot be done. Rather it is what has not been planted yet. What has not been cultivated, what has not stretched deeper, or pushed through. Don’t let impossible or the definition of ‘can’t’ fool you. They have nothing to do with you or your dreams, however what you choose to begin or end has everything to do with the latter.
Spring is coming, the time to plant, to stretch, to grow, to break through. The time for beauty to persist. So here’s to gardens full of blooms and orchards full of fruit- beginning with big dreams.
LETTER #4
Dear Susan,
Life often comes down to nothing more than a series of choices. What isn’t done, is not the same as what can’t be done. Although, we often feel that what we aren’t doing is the equivalent to what we cannot do. Only that is not true. When I graduated high school and I attended my first semester of college, I hardly called myself an artist, let alone a children’s illustrator and author. I attended five months of classes with the mindset of what I was not, but when classes ended I realized I had a choice. At that point in time I was not a published author. I was not a children’s illustrator. However, what I had not yet become was not the same as what I could never be. I made a choice; I chose to pursue my dreams. What schools or the media will not teach you, is that every choice comes attached with strings. We choose what they become. If we are not careful they will weave themselves into nothing more than knots, tangled messes, and mistakes. If we are intentional and persistent with our choices- ‘Step with care and great tact and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act.’ (Oh the Places You’ll Go); then the strings attached to our choices can be woven into a tapestry telling the story of where we have been and what we have done.
My choices in the past few years tell the story of quitting school and choosing to do what I had never done. They tell the story of decisions to keep drawing far past midnight on few hours of sleep to finish illustrations and storyboards. Choices made to continue learning in a field I had never been taught. Reading more children’s books, author’s biographies, studying illustrations, choosing to be intentional with my time and efforts. I learned that ‘a job well done’ cannot be crossed off after you work a certain amount of hours, it simply must be done. And it must be done well, no matter the time or focus it takes. There were many early days and many more midnights, slowly but surely intentionality met persistence and became something. The final products were an illustrated preschool curriculum and my first book, ‘The Legend of the Starfish’. However, these are not the only things woven by these choices.
My work ethic, to work until a job was done was created. My courage to try new things came alive. The desire to learn was sparked in me in a way like never before. Who I am today as a diligent, persistent Author & Illustrator petitioning for an internship is a result cultivated by a series of choices. Beginning with a choice to do what I had never done, not because I was suddenly validated by a degree, but because what I have not done is not the same as what I cannot do.
I am not an intern at Seuss Enterprises today, but that has nothing to do with whether or not I will be one tomorrow. Or the next day or the next. So until I receive a response, I will continue on. Will you reshape the “not yet” into reality, by answering “yes” to my request for a position as a Seuss Enterprises intern? The choice is yours.
Sincerely,
Alison Stephen
LETTER #5
To Susan Brandt whom it may concern;
We all have deeper roots; all of us. There is a story behind every story, behind every song an inspiration, behind every painting a beginning. There is a depth to all of us, and like most trees, our depth and our fruit is determined by our roots. We have a choice in how far we are willing to go, in how much we are willing to grow. The fact that roots require patience and cultivation is something that is too easily forgotten. Reading through the pages of Seuss’ books as a child and as a beginning illustrator, I could not imagine where these stories came from. They were marvels and mysterious wonders above all else. They still are, but as I have dug deeper in my research and career, I have discovered deeper roots. ‘Horton Hatches an Egg’ was birthed when Seuss holding an early drawing of Horton up to his studio window, saw from his perspective a tree. But not just a tree, an elephant sitting in a tree! It was then that the faithful elephant who means what he says and says what he means found his roots. Those roots have grown and created themselves into a childhood classic. As have many other Seuss stories. ‘Green Eggs and Ham’ a rhythmic story that sparks the imagination and fully engages readers, though created around a bet, was incredibly intentional. Seuss made a bet with a friend that he could write a book made up of only 50 words, repeated and rearranged. 50 words that were proven to be words for beginning readers to help them extend their own roots into learning and literature.
Seuss’ first best-selling book, ‘And to Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street’ can be traced through his childhood in many ways, and most obviously in that there is a real Mulberry Street in Springfield, Massachusetts. Our imagination has roots, roots that are often tied to reality. However, growth isn’t cultivated solely by reality; There are times reality begins with our imagination. Experiences that come first from the exploration of ideas and opportunities, stretching our roots to produce something new. Beginning with imagining the possibilities of what could be and what could become, and cultivating them to become reality.
I can only imagine what goes on in the day to day at Seuss Enterprises. I can only imagine the diligence and work ethic that is required of an Enterprise’s employee. I can only imagine. However, I am ready to cultivate possibilities to become experiences. Experience in working with a prestigious company like Seuss Enterprise’s. Experience in licensing and marketing books in modern publishing, and what that process looks like. Experience in doing something I have never done before, experience that is unrivaled by any other opportunity in the country. Will you join in cultivating these ambitions, and allow for Seuss Enterprises to be the beginning of deeper roots within my career?
Sincerely,
Alison Stephen