Many Ways to Grow

In mid-November I planted 3 amaryllis bulbs that I kept from last year wondering if they would grow and bloom again. As you can see they are all growing, but each in its own way, showing me that there are…

Many Ways to Grow

Some are fast growers who leap into action but take a long time to bloom — like the amaryllis in the blue pot did. Almost as soon I planted it, it shot up fresh green leaves. But for the longest time I I saw no flower bud forming. I wondered if it would bloom at all this year. Finally this week a bud began to emerge.

In contrast the amaryllis bulb on the right waited a short while but then shot up a bud very quickly. It has yet to form any new leaves but I am confident that it will, in its own time. And the amaryllis bulb on the left sat and looked dead until this week, when the tip of a bud emerged and then a leaf tip emerged. Slow growers, slow bloomers sometimes bring the brightest blessings.

How one grows, doesn’t matter. We all grow and experience the seasons and circle of life in our own ways.

“Beloved community is formed not by the eradication of difference but by its affirmation, by each of us claiming the identities and cultural legacies that shape who we are and how we live in the world.”
― bell hooks, Killing Rage: Ending Racism

Late Bloomer

I feel like a late bloomer in many ways. Though I was a fast learner in school learning, socially I had much to learn about loving and friendship. I am still learning about love and about how to befriend myself and others.

“When we choose to love, we choose to move against fear, against alienation and separation. The choice to love is a choice to connect, to find ourselves in the other.”

   — bell hooks

It doesn’t matter when we bloom, only that we grow and learn because I think that is why we are here.

There is no one right way

I have often said the words, “There is no one right way.” And the truth of these words echo through my life in many ways. Beloved friends, it is true, there is no one right way. But these days there is one way that I believe is much needed in today’s world and that is the way of love.

“Embracing love ethic means that we utilize all dimensions of love– “care, commitment, trust, responsibility, respect and knowledge”– in our everyday lives.”
― bell hooks, All About Love: New Visions

How can I love the world better?

One of the things I’m working on, is connecting with people that I love more often. Reaching out has often been difficult for me. The fear of being rebuffed or being a bother, has too often stopped me from reaching out. Like everyone on earth, I am a work in progress. And that’s okay with me. I’m grateful for what I keep learning during this earth school journey.

“If I were really asked to define myself, I wouldn’t start with race; I wouldn’t start with blackness; I wouldn’t start with gender; I wouldn’t start with feminism. I would start with stripping down to what fundamentally informs my life, which is that I’m a seeker on the path. I think of feminism, and I think of anti-racist struggles as part of it. But where I stand spiritually is, steadfastly, on a path about love.”
― bell hooks

Regularly, I ask myself, how can I authentically spread light and love? Some things I am not physically capable of. But there are many things I AM able to do. What I return to again and again, is to seek joy and share my joy with others. Making photographs, writing blog posts, feeling wonder and gratitude. Sometimes it’s a prayer for healing of the earth and those who are suffering. Or a phone call to someone I love, just to say, “I love you.” It could be as small as letting go of judging someone who thinks differently than me. Whatever it is, we all need loving kindness right now.

Wishing you a lovely Christmas week my friends.

May you walk in beauty.

Note: I chose quotes by bell hooks today in remembrance of her brilliant bright life.