Flowering Fridays: Finding Flowers in Winter

Pictures from Christmas Eve morning at the Domes in Milwaukee, WI.

(Click here if you cannot view slideshow.)

It is raining down a beautiful snowfall today here in Wisconsin. And it is beautiful. 

But as a lover of flowers and things green, I find that the monochromatic whiteness

of a Wisconsin winter calls for some color sometimes. On Christmas Eve, I was in charge

of choosing the activity for our morning out with Michael's parents. Not surprisingly, I chose

Milwaukee's indoor botanical garden, The Mitchell Park Conservatory. (Called "the Domes" by

us locals, for the three large glass domes that make up the conservatory.)

It was wonderfully refreshing — both in terms of seeing the plants and flowers (the shapes,

the colors, the centers — swoon!) and in terms of having a mini-vacation from the winter

landscape. It also taught me that even here in the icy cold of Wisconsin, I can find flowers

still blooming.  You just have to know where to look for them. And give yourself persmission

to pause and notice.

Tell me, where is there blooming in your life right now if you only stopped to look more closely?

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Flowering Fridays is a weekly look at flowers through the lens of what they might teach us about flowering fully in our life. Past editions are here.

Flowering Fridays: Poinsettia

I didn't realize until a year or so ago that the flowers of a poinsettia are really the small center petals (which have died off in our plant here). The bright red (or pink or white or variegated) parts that I thought were flowers are actually a kind of leaf called a bract. (I also only recently learned that the poinsettia is not a plant, but a small shrub.)

Besides the obvious connection that poinsettias have this time of year, their small flowers are a good metaphor for the holiday season:  

While there is much focus on the pomp and circumstance of the flashier and more colorful parts of the season (big decorated tree, presents, hustle and bustle), the true flowering is really the small radiant center of the season. 

This beautiful flower — this part, for some of us, gets lost in all the trappings and packaging of the season.

For me to savor the gifts of the season means reflecting on the solstice and the promise present in the darkest night of the year. It means connecting with my inner light and looking for ways for it to shine brighter. It means reflecting on the heart of the beautiful Nativity story and the humble babe born in a manger and the wise men and shepherd who followed their angels and the light to find him. (Regardless of your religious beliefs, I find the story says much about faith, trust and humbleness.)

I recently downloaded Lynn Jericho's wonderful ebook, Celebrate Christmas! Celebrate You!. I have for several years enjoyed her free Inner Christmas meditations during the Holy Nights.

I'm looking forward to sharing the book with my husband as way of connecting us more deeply with this most wonderful time of year.

Below is Lynn Jericho's new video about the Inner Christmas concept and the opportunity for each of us to find a more soulful orientation to this season. If you are interested in these daily 12-minute self-reflective meditations, which are for all beliefs and traditions, you can sign up here. (Scroll down the page for the sign-up.)

I highly recommend giving yourself the gift of making time for inward connection and reflection this season — the pause, the noticing, the peace and silence are a way to connect in with your own flowering heart and where the precious flower is for you this season.

Tell me, where is the flowering center of this season for you?

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Flowering Fridays is a weekly look at flowers through the lens of what they might teach us about flowering fully in our life. Past editions are here.

bloom. grow. shine.

This picture is from a garden that stopped me in my tracks when we were on vacation with friends in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, last month. The entire perimeter of the yard featured nothing but dahlias. I was struck both by the beauty of the dahlias and with the bravado of this man who decided to take what he loved and go big with it. (Read more about the garden here.)

 

Part of my journey over the last few years has been learning to both walk towards the sunshine (what feels good) and to stand in the radiant flower that I am (and each of us are). Part of what is sunny for me lately is to share what I am noticing in my life and the world around me. My intention for this blog is to share those rays of "sunshine" and share what is helping me blossom more fully into life.

This garden got me thinking:  where in my life can I take what I love and go big with it?

The answer, for me, comes in the form of a string of words — flowers, metaphors, poetry, books, stories, art, life lessons and journeys, breath, reflection, wonder, nature, community, safe haven — and a string of verbs — creating, dancing, gathering, learning, sharing, connecting, flowing, growing.

A friend and coach, Josh Billings, led me through a future self meditation earlier this summer. The sentence of my essence that I came out of the mediation with was this:

I am creative joy and oneness, connecting and creating, growing and flowing.

I sense that I'm just putting the first tender roots of this vision into the ground— and the buds are starting to form. I stand in witness and wonder as it comes into full bloom.

It's no coincidence that when I got new business cards for the Inspired Writer earlier this summer, I chose a new tagline: bloom. grow. shine. I'm ready. Are you?

Tell me:  where in your life can you take what you love and go "bigger" with it?