04/06/2026
I have been living here in Bulgaria for more than two years now.
My first year, the cherry trees were bare. The second year, the same. This year? It's an absolute explosion.
The trees are completely weighed down by a massive amount of cherries, and the local markets are overflowing. After two years of nothing, the abundance is almost overwhelming.
Here is the most beautiful part: even during those first two years when the tree didn't produce a single cherry, it wasn't useless.
I spent those seasons just enjoying the tree for what it was. I loved seeing the flowers during spring and watched the local street cats use it as a shaded sanctuary to escape the blistering summer heat, and as their favorite neighborhood scratch pad.
For me, the tree didn't need to produce fruit to be incredibly valuable. It just needed to be there, serving its other purpose.
It made me realize how flawed our modern, hyper-linear mindset is. We expect a massive "harvest" from ourselves every single quarter, every single year. We think if we aren't constantly producing visible results, we are failing.
If you are currently in a season of your life or career where you aren't "producing massive fruit," don't panic. The weather changes. The seasons shift.
You aren't failing; you are just in a cycle of quiet growth. And while you wait for your harvest, remember that you still have immense value to offer the world just by standing tall and providing shade to those around you. πΈ
Enjoy the season you are in. The cherries will come when they are ready. π
