Yesterday I held a webinar for this year’s When Food is Your Mother class, and I was struck by the ways that people are unfurling – blooming into the fullness of themselves.
We all have ways that we’ve contracted, tucked our hearts deep inside to keep ourselves safe, to protect the wounds we accrue throughout our lives. None of us escapes unscathed.
And it is beautiful to watch ourselves unfold – to nurture ourselves with warm, safe relationships so that these protections can soften. Then we watch and we bloom: our seeds crack open, spilling out their goodness so they can be planted in the world.
If we listen with care, we can see the evidence of these seeds everyday. I saw this yesterday in a conversation with a young man, who shared his troubles and his good heart with me.
In a moment, I could feel my judgments towards him soften as he told me, with a sheepish smile, how he’d like to stop smoking weed – and eat better. And take better care of himself. And how nervous he is about seeing his girlfriend next month.
And how he’d started smoking at 13; his dad, at 8.
I felt my insides melt – oh, we are all carrying something. Forgive me for my judgments. Bless this young man. Bless him.
There are so many ways our seeds can sprout. They can sprout when we feel safe enough to share our true selves with other. They sprout when we feel a new greening that says, Oh, I can ask for help – I don’t have to do so much alone.
They sprout when the ‘brave little soldiers’ inside, those young ones that have felt like they had to be so stoic and strong, start to let down their guard.
They sprout when voices of self criticism soften and we feel greater compassion for ourselves.
They sprout when we forgive ourselves, or when we forgive another.
They sprout when we let all that we are inside, out – rather than holding back our gifts for fear of being too much or not enough.
The other day, I had two friends – one new to me – over for soup and sandwiches after they tended the fire of a daylong gathering in the woods. Pete, my new friend, said, “We so easily forget who we are. We’re here to live like Kings and Queens, to bring our gifts to the table.”
So I praise your seeds that are unfurling. I praise the blossoms. I praise the seeds that are dormant, awaiting their spring to unfold.
And I praise the Kingdom and Queendom that you are birthing into the world.
Image credit: this is a collage I made for this year’s Listen class, to celebrate and honor this precious class. It is a representation of the Queendom of this group, what I wish for and see in each of them.