Blooming

This spring I fell in love with flowers.  My flowers haven’t lived long in the past because I didn’t really learn how to care for them.  So when I began buying baskets of hanging flowers and pots of assorted flowers this year, I decided it was time to really learn how to take care of them and keep them alive.  And I’ve learned some important things.

Lesson One

Flowers need to be fed and watered often.  I used to water them once a week.  Maybe.  The greenhouse ladies I spoke to recommended watering once a day at least.  Sometimes twice.  Flowers also need food.  I’ve never fed my flowers before.  This year, I started feeding them.  I put food in the watering can and feed them every couple of weeks.

Lesson Two

Flowers need to be deadheaded.  I never knew how to do this before or why it was necessary.  But basically, it’s just a matter of pulling off the dead flowers.  And different types of flowers need to be deadheaded in different ways.  Some require taking part of the stem as well.  When you remove the old flower, it causes the flower to bloom again faster.  If you want to keep your plants flowering, deadheading is an absolutely essential step.

Lesson Three

Repeat lessons one and two.  If you don’t continue to feed, water, and deadhead your flowers, they will quit blooming and eventually die.  A couple times this summer I had to leave town.  I got babysitters for my flowers, but it wasn’t the same.  They were getting watered, but they weren’t getting the full treatment that they needed.  When I got back to town, I always had to catch my flowers up and get them back in to shape.  And the longer they had been neglected, the more work I had to do.

This past year I fell in love with me.  That does not mean that I now moon about at myself when I look in the mirror.  Not at all.  But for years I’ve been neglecting myself physically and spiritually, and as a result, parts of my spirit had died.  So this year I’ve learned some very important things about caring for myself.

Lesson One

I need to be fed and watered regularly.  Part of this is actual food.  I’ve had to change the way I eat and live.  As a result, I’ve lost some weight.  I have a long way to go, but I’m on the right track.  But part of the feeding that I need is spiritual.  I have to have good stuff coming in to my life.  For me, this is only partially about church.  It’s also about having good friends who listen to me and process with me.  It’s about doing things like walking and riding my bike.  It’s about spending time with family.  It’s about being connected to others.  For me, this is essential food and water.

Lesson Two

I need to be deadheaded regularly.  I have emotional baggage.  I’ve been hurt and have adopted some unhealthy coping techniques.  So, I have to deal with this stuff as it comes up.  I sometimes get upset about things that shouldn’t upset me.  And when I do, I have to really think about it and figure out what dead flower is behind it.  And then I have to deal with it and pull it out. 

Lesson Three

Repeat lessons one and two.  Self maintenance is a continual process.  I have to feed my spirit regularly.  If I let things go, things get backed up for me emotionally.  If I go for weeks without attending to my spiritual needs, then more work has to be done later.  I also cannot depend on others to take care of my spiritual and emotional needs.  Other people help me process and can be energizing, but ultimately, I have to take responsibility for my own mental and spiritual maintenance.  I have to take care of me.

I’ve learned a lot about flowers and myself in the past year.  And I’m happy to report that we are all blooming.