In the spring of 2021, we bought several potted flowers for our deck as well as a variety of individual flowers to arrange in our existing pots by the garage and front porch. We mistakenly bought an azalea flowering plant that is actually intended to be a large hedge.
At first, I planned on swapping it for more flowers, but that never happened. It lived on the deck for a while, then we moved it near the garage until I could figure out what to do with it. After some time went by, I considered throwing it away, assuming it would soon die of root rot anyway, but that seemed like a waste and I couldn’t do it.
Last fall, we brought it with us on a trip to our land, thinking we would plant it there. We didn’t really know of a good place for it, however, as our home location wasn’t yet certain. But we picked a random spot and tried to dig a hole. The dirt was super hard and the shovel wasn’t going in at all. We had already done a lot of work that day, so we brought the azalea plant back home. It survived the eighty-minute truck ride each way with no problem.
All this time, the azalea plant seemed to remain in neutral—it wasn’t growing, blooming or dying. I have held out hope that her resilience would continue long enough until we could give her a real home, when our house in the woods is completed later this year.
As I returned from my walk this morning, I was surprised and excited to see that she’s had her first blooms. Despite all the moves and less than ideal circumstances, the azalea has decided to flower. She is blooming where she’s been planted, well, even if she isn’t officially planted.
No longer waiting for the right day, the right time, the right circumstance or location, our azalea plant is blooming in full glory. And no doubt, when we can plant her in the ground, she will really blossom and spread there too in the way she was created. But until then, she has flowers to share.
My husband and I participated in a year-long author/speaking/publicity coaching program in 2013. One of the things we learned that has always stuck with me is to “just start.” Put out version 1.0 and don’t worry if it’s not perfect or everything we want it to be. In other words, bloom now. We can always create and share version 2.0 later. Rather than stay stuck in avoidance or procrastination, we were taught (and have found it to be true) that it’s much better to embrace imperfection and
just get started with what we have now.
Have you been waiting for ideal circumstances before blossoming? If your dream circumstances haven’t come into existence yet, maybe it’s time to bloom where you are now? What could that look like? It may not be exactly how you want it, or on as big of a scale as you intend for the future, but perhaps it’s time to embrace what’s true now and ask yourself, “What can I do in this season, with things exactly as they are, and with me exactly as I am?” The answers might surprise you.
Try a three-minute mindfulness meditation, while observing my azalea photo. Ask yourself another question, “If I knew it would blossom, what would I go ahead and do now?” Let the answers come freely, no judgment allowed. Then let your courage and willingness surface. You have everything you need to bloom now, so I challenge you to just get started and see what happens. You are resilient and blessed with flowers to share, too.
