I’ve turned into quite the plant lady during this pandemic and my planting and porch gardening are soothing in ways I never expected.
It is calming for this *very* anxious soul – whose anxiety (like everyone else’s) has certainly intensified times a thousand since March of 2020.
(And my Sara Bug has JUST sent me a TikTok from an immunologist that was nothing but Bad News Bears that has me all kinds of itchy. . .I NEED my plants.)
It is grounding, so comforting to dig in the soil and plant seeds and water and repot and tend my plants every day.
From a tiny mini rose bush I rescued after Valentine’s Day one year that is now big and beautiful in my window to my wildflowers from church I planted on our Lindsey’s birthday that are now blooming a gorgeous shade of lilac to succulents and cacti and evergreens and tiny trees, I am surrounded by growth and life and vibrant greens.
I’ve noticed something else too that was so unexpectedly beautiful about gardening to me, especially as I am watching a couple of my orchids bloom.
See, if you don’t have orchids, they bud very slowly, from the top of the branch to the bottom, then bloom slowly the same way. They are finicky and require pretty specific care – and it is so exciting (to a little happy plant nerd) to see buds beginning to form.
There is something amazing about watching the whole process, an “ordinary miracle” if you will. Thinking about that is what brought the quote from Albert Einstein that I shared at the beginning of this post to mind:
There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.
While it’s true of all of my plants, I notice it most with my orchids – I suppose because their growing and blooming is such a delicate process and I love to watch it. Seeing them bud and blossom from nothing to such beauty makes me stand in awe of God’s creative power and feel closer to Him.
That He would be mindful of even the smallest detail – and give us flowers purely to bring us joy – takes my breath when I think about it. Considering that ordinary greenery and trees are sufficient for oxygenation – and pretty and pleasing in their own right – I realize that the plants and flowers that surround me in my home were made just to delight us, to be lovely and beautiful, for us by God.
A kind of love letter.
Oh my heart. ❤
I wrote recently (again) about how much I love the work of Mary Oliver and still read her writings daily as a sort of meditation. She had such a gift for observing nature and seeing the divine in everything.
As I’ve grown into the plant lady I never knew I would be, my favorite poem of hers, “The Summer Day,” just speaks to my heart in an entirely new and different way.
May we all know how to kneel down in the grass, to be idle and blessed. And may we always give thanks for the “ordinary miracles” around us.
Be well, everybody. Take care of yourselves and each other. ❤
Grace and Blessings.
the autoimmune hippie. 