I am currently wearing an obscenely floral shirt. I just saw it in the store and thought how cool it was and how I wasn’t sure if I could pull it off. I then looked at the price, and I was sold on taking the risk. In wearing this shirt today I starting thinking how many metaphors have been thrown out about flowers. Roses and love ,and how every rose has its thorns, and how love is beautiful and also painful. The counting of petals as you rip them off to explain how sexual abstinence is good, and if you keep giving yourself away you will only have a stem to give to your future life partner. So many comparisons to these beautiful delicate creations. I am not sure why those came to the top of my mind, but there ya go!
I love flowers. I love the smell. I love the work it takes to cultivate and maintain flowers. I love how some are delicate but some are actually rather hearty. I love how they are given as gifts for both happy and sad occasions. Flowers just have something about them that you can’t ignore. They are special.
I can understand why so many people compare us as humans to flowers. All the same things apply to us….well aside from being given as gifts. haha. We are beautiful, delicate but hearty. We take work. We smell….good and bad. We are unique and individual and can’t be ignored. I think what I was thinking about today regarding the parallels, is that not every flower is going to be taken care of the same way. Each one has different needs. All are beautiful in their own right, but the needs of a Rose are different than the needs of an Orchid.
I planted a few rose bushes at my old cottage. I loved them so much but I had to figure out the best way to care for them. I was told they are super hearty and that once you get them going they pretty much take care of themselves. They just need alot of attention at first. The ground has to be conducive to a good root system. They need lots of water. They need good direct sunlight. Once they take off, and the conditions in which they are planted are good, they will bloom and thrive. I also had some Begonias that I planted that had totally different needs. They needed less water and less direct sun. In order for them to survive I couldn’t put them under the same rules for growth. They would never thrive like that.
Here is the comparison I was thinking on. We all have different needs. We all are fed and function differently and to put everyone under the same set of rules and regulations would be foolish. I am not talking about general rules. Flowers all need water and all need some form of light…we all need guidelines and guardrails. Look across the board for humans though. We have conservatives and liberals. We have Southern Baptists, catholics, pentecostals, and methodists. We have outdoorsy people and those who prefer life indoors. The list could go on and on. Each person on their individual journey has different needs and different things that make them thrive. Things that bring out passions and excitement. Things that make them fall in love. Things that make them angry. At the end of the day though, just like with flowers planted and cared for according to what is best for them, we becomes a beautiful garden of humanity. All the colors and shapes and sizes. All the diversity of texture and depth.
Have you ever been to a really well cared for garden? You can’t help but stop and admire its beauty and take it all in. So, that brings me to my long winded point. Make sure you are planted where you should be, and are cared for in the way in which you need. All the basics still apply. If you are a person of faith that is the basic food and water we need. For others that might be different. Then we move forward. Some will need to be planted where there are lots of people. Some will need to be planted in the isolated places of Northern Montana. Some people need the arts…. like me. Others need a sports stadium within 10 minutes. Some need a community that has strict rules and regulations because they function well in that world. Some need to feel more of a freedom in the midst of their structure.
I am realizing this more and more as I grow older and figure myself out, one layer at a time. I use to think that I needed to stay in middle America. I thought I would always feel the most at home there. For awhile I thought that New York City was the place for me. So many opportunities and excitement! Then I realized I need to be planted where I can have a little bit of both worlds. City and country life at my fingertips sprinkled with the arts and culture that bring me to life. That is where I grow and thrive the most. I was raised Southern Baptist, but that is not where I grow and thrive the most. That is not where I am fed to the fullest. I still hold to my faith, but that denomination I have found isn’t for me as a whole. Doesn’t make it bad at all…just isn’t where I need to be planted and fed. Where do you need to be planted?
We all have to figure out what it is that feeds us and where is the best place to plant our hearts. We are tasked with figuring that out. No one else will be able to tell you…..although many will try and convince you otherwise. Once you figure that out….don’t settle for anything less. Allow the flower that you are to grow and bloom to its fullest and be admired for the unique creation that it is. Surround yourself with a beautiful garden of well tended people and enjoy! You deserve it! You are worthy of it!
So, let’s just stop and smell the roses. Life is too short not to. Life is but a breath. Don’t waste it being planted where you can’t fully thrive and grow to your best.
