The Blooming Truth About Growth

I received my first Amaryllis as a gift. An Amaryllis is a bulb that grows the most stunning flowers on it. It has long green leaves that grow taller each day. I have never had one before and don’t remember seeing one anywhere, but that was before my “gardening journey” began (when I decided to break my curse of killing plants, learning how to nurture them, and watch them as they grew and flowered beautifully).

I was truly amazed at how quickly they grow and bloom. I am more convinced the Amaryllis grows much more than usual overnight.

Then I found another one at a local shop and bought it. My first one is white, but this promised (according to the picture) to be a rich and stunning red. I was doubtful as to whether I would see it flower this year, as the season for them had passed. The Amaryllis comes in red, pink, white, orange, and striped varieties. There is so much interesting information about them.

When the leaves started to grow longer on my plant, the one leaf started to develop a bulge on it, which I hoped would become a flower. This is what I thought, but it continued to grow without a trumpet shaped flower in sight.

One morning when I woke up and made my way to the kitchen for my morning ritual of caffeine loading, there it was… The flowers were starting to emerge from the bulge on the leaf. Previous experience had shown me how quickly the bud emerges and becomes a glorious flower.

I decided to take pictures every day as it progressed through its many stages.

Once the Amaryllis has bloomed, it needs time to rest and gain its strength back. It needs to be moved to a darker environment and doesn’t need watering or nurturing until the new season starts.

Then it must be placed back into a space where it will find more light, needs more nurturing and needs regular watering.

As I watched this amazing process, I began to think about people; how we grow, how we learn, how we change within ourselves and in relation to the world and people around us. I thought it was similar to that of my beautiful Amaryllis plants and began to notice the similarities between the growth of humans and that of this lovely bulb. When we grow and when we need to take a time out to regroup and reset ourselves.

When I speak about our growth, I am not talking about physical growth, when a child grows into an adult, growing taller, growing bigger feet, longer arms and so on. I am talking about our inner growth and the growth we experience pursuing our careers. Mental growth, emotional growth, growth of wisdom through experience and our spiritual growth, which is so infant like, as we enter adulthood.

Through the experiences we have, we learn, sometimes painfully and sometimes joyfully. The friends we have, and those we meet who fill us with happiness, ones that are there no matter what is happening in our own lives, and those that aren’t or won’t be, sometimes leading to hurt and disappointment.

We have been programmed, to a certain extent by our parents, based on their opinions and experiences, and sometimes these don’t serve us or have a positive impact on us as we navigate through life. We have work challenges as well as massive accomplishments. We find out what we’re good at and where our true passions lie. Some of us suffer traumas and heart-breaking losses. Sometimes we must walk a dark road to find the light that is meant for us. With the right light conditions and soil conditions, our beliefs are able to take root. If we have the right nurturing and mentoring, we will bloom, sometimes when we least expect it.

I have watched my red Amaryllis grow day by day. It’s leaves and stems getting stronger and standing taller. The little peep of a flower followed by the great, gradual opening of something that will stop people who visit in their tracks to comment on its beauty.

Hold onto the vision of your growth and your blooming. Remember that there is a season for everything, sometimes we need to go inward and find what really makes us want to celebrate and dance with joy.

Before I became self employed, while working for other companies, I was sometimes required to stick to a specific dress code. I had to wear black, black and white, navy, or navy and white. That was about it. So, when I followed my heart into art opening my own stained-glass business, suddenly black and navy were colours I tried to exclude from my choices. My clothing and my world became brighter and have a more Boho feel. I avoid buying black and navy. The brighter the better. Styles and colours I never thought I would like and wear, are now colours I love and wear without hesitation, and if it’s a bit “out there”, it’s even better.

Art – I was told as a child by my parents and teachers alike, that I did not have even the smallest speck of creativity in me. Yet, here I am. I am creating things that I love, using a medium I love and guess what, things that other people like and love. I am an artist. We all are. We just create our own art, our own life choices. Each of us bloom despite the setbacks, but you must believe you will, even when it’s difficult and seems impossible. Put that belief out into the universe. Some of us bring white, red, pink, orange and even striped flower varieties to the world through our personalities, but we all have our own times to change, learn and finally bloom.

I have learnt over my life that I am creative, I am resilient, I am a loyal friend, I am an empath. I am also an overthinker. I expect the same from other people as I am willing to give, but sometimes that doesn’t happen. I’ve learned to care, and sometimes, when necessary, not to. I have learned that sometimes I need to take care of myself, to effectively care for others. I have felt heart break and loss and learnt to live with it and move past it.

Try this! It’s fun and will reveal more about yourself than you think.

Write down what you have learnt about yourself. Positive things, or negative things that turned into fantastic positives. Silence the inner critic. Look at it in a month’s time and add to it. Keep going!

You are amazing and your blooming day is coming. Believe in it and trust the process.

Yours in soul scribbles,

Jacqui