What Grows from us?

Lately, I came across a post on Instagram that asked a simple question:
“If someone plants you, what will grow from you?”

It wasn’t meant to be scientific, it was reflective. And the responses that people provided were: sadness, patience, strawberry, pain, shyness, dandelion, hope, silence, nothing.

At first, the answers seemed random. But the more I looked at them, the more I realized each one came from something real. People were sharing small pieces of themselves, even if they didn’t mean to.

The question wasn’t really about gardening. It was about identity. It was about the emotions we don’t always notice. The ones that sit quietly in the background until we slow down enough to feel them.

Some people said pain, sadness, or nothing. It felt like those answers came from a place of exhaustion, maybe even feeling numb. Others said hope, dandelion, or patience. These are the kinds of things that only grow after long seasons of waiting. One answer simply said strawberry; small, sweet, and strangely optimistic.

The idea behind the question is simple: we’re all made of something. And when placed in the right or wrong conditions, certain parts of us take root and grow. Some of it is beautiful. Some of it is not. But it all says something real.

It also raises a harder question: are we aware of what might grow from us? Are we responsible for it?

We live in a world that cares a lot about performance, results, and how things look on the outside. But this question turns the focus. It’s not asking what you’re good at or what you can achieve. It’s asking who you are underneath it all, when no one’s watching, and you’re just being yourself.

Not everyone grows flowers. Some people grow boundaries. Some grow silent. Others, after enough time, grow something softer. Not because life was easy, but because they became gentle anyway.

Rumi once wrote, “The wound is where the light enters you.” What grows from us is often shaped by what we have survived and how we respond to it.

It is not always a pretty process. But it is an honest one.

And maybe that is enough.