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.