“Not every soil can bear all things.”…Virgil
Bloom where you are planted, and if you can’t, transplant yourself. See this little guy here? Isn’t he stunning? We bought him over twelve years ago. He arrived with a bud and bloomed that year, but never again until now. Two years ago I transplanted him to another bed. I walked out of the house the other day, and to my great surprise he was in full bloom. Some things and people just take their own sweet time. And sometimes, it’s all about the soil.
“Anyone can have dirt. Gardener’s have soil.”
Sometimes people need to pick themselves up and transplant themselves in other gardens or they just need to fertilize the soil around them. We are given so many opportunities to reinvent our lives. While we are young, we are given the opportunity with each school transfer or move. Then the opportunity arises again with college or the work force. Then there is marriage, again new jobs, new neighborhoods or churches, and community organizations or other social clubs. These are not our only means to recreating our lives. We have the power to do it any time we want.
I was a late bloomer in life. However, as soon as I blossomed I became what I thought the soil around me required me to be. The remainder of my flowers were hidden in my soul. With each stage in life, I attached to the other flowers in my garden, and still refused to allow the rare flower within to bloom. It took me many years to realize that all I needed to do to bloom was change the soil around me. I didn’t need to fully transplant. I weeded my garden and cultivated my soul. Now, my life is in full bloom. It might not appear that way to my family, friends, or neighbors, but I feel the blooms deep inside shooting towards the sun.
“Growth is the only evidence of life.”…John Henry Cardinal Newman 1864
I actually had to step out of my flowerpot to experience my growth. I had to make myself uncomfortable and experience new things. Even though I seemed to have stayed the same for so many years, I think I was gradually taking shape. It took a little weeding and raking of my soul, some courage (fertilizer), and some experience (mulch). And one day, I simply embraced my life and unfolded my petals.
“Gardening is a way of showing that you believe in tomorrow.”
There is hope in whoever you are today to become whoever you will be tomorrow. I’m not saying we can just name anything or anyone in the world and become that thing or person. I am saying that we each have within us the power to follow our dreams. We hold our abilities and desires deep within us. It’s a matter of reaching deep inside and coming face to face with ourselves…and then, anything is possible.
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SuziCate you’ve done it again, an amazing post. I love the analogy, rooting and uprooting plants and the comparison to our own lives. Uprooting completely can afford great opportunities but when that is not an option or difficult to achieve then yes, changing the soil around us, adding a little different nourishment here, some water there, it can make all the difference. Something I am very much trying to work on in my own life.
It’s worked for me. There were some things I needed to change, and I am the happier for it.
a very timely post as i once again repot myself in the soil of my choosing. i love your analogy of experience as mulch. a beautiful post.
Very Deep Suzicate,
Yes we have to weed our gardens so to say and even transplant ourselves to come into full bloom and like your beautiful flower sometimes it takes us a few years to realize we have been transplanted
Fantastic Post my Friend
Beautiful analogy.
I am not a gardener (don’t enjoy getting my hands dirty) but I do love walking through gardens. : )
Brilliant, brilliant post suzicate!
Spectacular! “I actually had to step out of my flowerpot to experience my growth” Loved this line!
What a beautiful post!
Your post is amazing, you are amazing, and your God given talent to write is amazing. I love how you compared us to transplanting a flower garden. I tell you Suzicate you could sell some of these stories. I don’t know how to tell you to go about it except to go on the internet and do research on magazines that accept stories like yours. Then send them your story. Read their guidelines and it will tell you what to do, and how to go about it. I used to have a book with all the magazines and formation, but it was destroyed in the tornado. Years ago you had to have a book with the list of them, but now you can just go on the internet to get any information you want on magazines or publishing companies.
I used to have one years ago when I had some poetry published. I have not been submitting for so many years I’ve lost touch. It’s such hard work to publish…writitng is the joyful part. One day, when I have more time, I might look into it. I do know that many places won’t accept previously published i,including blog published, articles.
My flowers have aphids which is SO appropriate to my life right now. HA.
Wonderful post, beautiful bloom. It definitely shines your soul of nurture. Glad you found your soil.
The part about making it a little uncomfortable for yourself is so true. It’s very difficult to push beyond those walls we create for ourselves, but in doing so, we most definitely do grow!
an incredible post! a masterpiece really.Inspiring and thought provoking ; well done suzi.
http://wordwand.wordpress.com/2010/06/16/void-soul/#respond
see mine .
I just did…I must have been leaving you a comment on yours while you were leaving one on mine!
Although I am not a gardener, I could feel and see your analogy. I like the idea of transplanting yourself and reinventing yourself. It requires an affirmative action on the person’s part, but sometimes as you have done with this post, need a reminder, almost like placing a seed in someone’s head letting them know that change can happen, you just need to embrace the possibility of it.
I love the title of this post. My husband and I like to garden… sadly, we haven’t had much time to keep up with it the past couple years, once Nathan was born!
With each stage in life, I attached to the other flowers in my garden, and still refused to allow the rare flower within to bloom. It took me many years to realize that all I needed to do to bloom was change the soil around me. I didn’t need to fully transplant. I weeded my garden and cultivated my soul. Now, my life is in full bloom. It might not appear that way to my family, friends, or neighbors, but I feel the blooms deep inside shooting towards the sun.
~ I love this and feel it too!
This was such a beautiful post! Great analogies throughout. You really should submit this somewhere.
I haven’t submitted anything in like twelve years…recently, I’ve had some people give me information for submissions, and I’ve found that most places will not accept submissions that have been previously published, including blogs and other personal websites. I never realized that a blog would be considered previous publication, bummer!
I do feel akin to many of the flowers in my garden. The cycle of one’s life is analgous. Sometimes we are blooming, sometimes we are dormant and sometimes we do need to be fertilized and tended to. If you remove the dead weight (i.e. dead leave and such) you tend to grow fuller and more brightly. I do believe we can reinvent and change ourselves all the time. Life is ever-changing and so our we.
That’s such a beautiful analogy, Suzi! Your words are always so inspirational, they really make me want to do something more to help myself. Thank you for continuing to post such wonderful thoughts and observations.
Oh SC, you have such strength of insight. I know that it can take years that feel like lifetimes to reach the epiphanies that you stand on today. You raise up my heart today. Beautiful.
K, you are just too sweet.
There are so many interesting metaphors from the garden. your lily is truly beautiful! Within the past 6 weeks, 2 people that i absolutely love gave me a handful of clippings from their herb garden. I’ve never been successful growing herbs. But i took care to hydrate them well, cultivate some roots, and gently plant them. And most are now thriving. The plants to me represent an extension of these two wonderful households. They are alive and have been cultivated by my two lovely friends.
This year is my first attempt at an herb garden. It would fair much better if the dog would stop trying to dig up my Rosemary!
This is a wonderful post…and so very, very true. I agree that there are many metaphors between gardens and life. After all, time began in a garden. We all should remember that and take time to till and cultivate the things in our life that are beautiful.
And yes, that is where it all began.
great metaphoric value in this post..I love it. Nurturing the soil (soul), so vital to growth. Heartspell
I love the gardening analogy! It is true, sometimes we need to enhance the soil we are in and sometimes we need to transplant ourselves. Sometimes we must die and let go in order to be re-birthed.
Nice. Very, very, very nice.
The quote about dirt and soil made me laugh because it is true. Non-gardeners think (at least I do) of dirt as dirt, whereas gardners think of the place they plant as soil and they know that it needs to be a specific way.
I am so happy for you that you realized you needed to change somethings and now your life is in full bloom. What a terrific blessing!
Though I love flowers, I am not much of a gardener. In fact, hubby just informed me the other day, “You DO know that all of your flower gardens are full of weeds? Right?” My reply: “Whacha got against weeds? You’re being prejudiced! Somebody’s gotta love weeds. May as well be me.” In fact, his mother once told me on one of her visits that I really needed to clear the “chick weed” out of one of the beds, and I honestly didn’t know it was a weed…I thought they were pretty wild flowers”. I know about weeding, fertilizing, and mulching…I’m just not a green thumb gardener…I’d rather write about it.
My husband is the green thumb. I have brought home plants and said, “Its dead.” And he says, “No its not.” And low and behold, he revives it. I do enjoy the fruits of his labor though.
Since you DON’T garden it is even MORE amazing that you can weave such an analogy! COOL!
Perhaps the perfect post for Bloomsday! Great lines after the quotes and an excellent intro. cheers
I did not know about bloomsday until I just googled it! thanks for bringing it to my attention.
Lovely post, Suzi. My flowers need some nurturing and tending. It took awhile for them to bloom, but here they are!
And they are rare, bold, beautiful, and fragrant! Some blooms are well worth the wait!
Hi SuziCate – I love the metaphors in this post and your reminder that, if we’re having trouble blooming, to fertilize our proverbial gardens or move to soil where we can. Wonderful post!
This is amazingly beautiful. It really speaks to me. I totally believe in what you say here. Can I feature this on Tickled Pink this week? If so, email me pretty please.
“Bloom where you are planted, and if you can’t, transplant yourself”
I am totally here.
Timely post. Thanks!
You are welcome!
I was just thinking about this today! If we hadn’t have moved to this place that I didn’t like, then I would have been able to fall in love with my surroundings. I find myself rushing out the door in the evenings just looking for something to photograph. I never had this passion for a hobby before, I think I needed the relocation.
Great post as always!
fantastic photograph and words. i have a small gift for you in my blog, will you accept it?
http://window2mysoul.wordpress.com/2010/06/16/magic-touch-award/
i loved gardening. its something so soothing and beautiful
I just found your blog and I really loved your gardening analogy. Change is very hard for some … and this is a great, non-threatening way to look at it. Thank you for your beautiful words.
I’m glad you liked it. Thanks for stopping by.