Something is Blossoming, Somewhere
I am a gardener.
I may not be the best at what I do, but I love what I do!
(translation: my gardens are weedy...)
We have a vegetable garden every year.
The older we get, the smaller the plot becomes.
I have flowers tucked in almost every nook and cranny possible.
I love sharing my blooms whenever I have plenty to go around.
It's fun to watch faces light up when I carry in a vase or two.
Some plants have been shared with friends,
some are from friends,
and some have traveled from house to house with us.
How do my little gardens of color
have anything to do with where I am in life?
The gardens are my happy place.
They are peaceful, quiet and relaxing.
Even surrounded by mosquitoes, knowing full well I will be bug bait.
Even with a bad back, knowing tomorrow I will be down for the count.
The rewards are worth the pain.
I look forward to them every year.
Every spring I walk around searching for the tiniest hint of buds.
The crocus surprise us, popping up when it seems too cold.
There is always room for more,
counting the days until nursery plants are set out,
I am compelled to find just the right ones for the season.
Nothing too fragile, or the winds will tear them apart.
Nothing too costly, lest I forget to water them on those hot summer days.
Nothing that makes great rabbit salad, or tasty deer feed.
I plant them, water and fertilize them, and wait.
A little sunshine, a little shade, just the right soil mixture, rain, and time.
If patience is a virtue, then gardens are the key.
Our lives are much like those gardens.
It takes much care, time, patience, trial and error.
Have you have ever been talking to someone and they try to be helpful
by giving you such platitudes as
"Bloom where you are planted"
OR
"Maybe when you think you have been buried,
perhaps you have been planted"?
If you are anything like me, it was at the most inopportune times,
and my initial reaction was wishing I could give them a smack in the face!
But I am a little nicer on the outside,
so I smile and nod a light "thanks" to the uninformed giver.
If you haven't noticed this by now...
the general public, friends and family
have absolutely NO CLUE what it feels like to be in our place.
They are only aware of their own little world,
and when tragedy, sorrow, mental or physical health decline
brushes against their private bubble of safety,
whether they realize it or not - they are are scared.
The safest place for them
is to paddle their own lives
further down the current,
away from the "cesspool of despair".
Leaving us and our "problem life" swirling in their wake.
The waves crashing around us
further sinking the lifeboat we so desperately cling to.... alone.
Yes, yes, yes.
I KNOW we are not alone.
I KNOW we have an anchor in our storm(s).
Hold on with me here.
In every comment there is a grain of truth,
whether we are ready to hear it quite yet is not in their capability to understand.
We all have said things aloud that should have been kept to ourselves.
The difference is, we need to know who to listen to and who to prune a little.
Each and every one of us is on a journey that we alone can know.
Most of the time I don't even know which path to take,
how would another person be able to show the way?
We can't, really.
Unless that friend or aquaintance has been on the road covered in the same thorns,
or tangled in the overwhelming weeds you trip over day after day,
then you might possibly have another helping hand in your garden of life.
Maybe your garden is too wet, or too dry.
The morning glories could be swallowing up the lilies.
The hostas have too much shade. (yes, it's possible!)
Or the birds have pecked away at all your seeds.
Even if your garden is full of weeds, there is always something blooming.
Whatever your garden path may look like today,
or yesterday,
or tomorrow -
There is always something to look forward to,
always something we can add, or clean out,
or adjust to different places to allow the sunshine through the shadows.
Then when it becomes a large enough blossom,
a helping hand in their season of darkness.
The next time someone tries to remind you
"To stop and smell the roses"
Just remember you are the gardener of your own path
and the Master Gardener will show you
how to thrive in whatever situation you find along the way.
Pick a rose for me, and take in the sweet scent of perfection.
Even if the rabbits did have a nibble on the side.
Adding another brick in the gardens
Written by: Sue Leerhoff
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