Bloom Where You Are Planted

This is Phoebe, and she is "blooming where she's planted".

Bloom where you are planted.  I saw this phrase once on a card or poster somewhere years ago, and it stayed with me.  Every now and then it pops into my mind.  I love the idea of blooming where you are planted, where ever that might be.

It popped into my mind today.

When I'm sitting in my conservatory, watching the birds and enjoying the sun on my face, I often get to hear the little boy who lives next door, playing in his garden.  We say hello and have a chat through the fence every now and then.  He is 3 years old and creases me up.  The last time we had a chat he told me how he likes to find spiders and pick them up, but sometimes he squeezes them too hard with his thumb and squishes them by mistake.

Today, I could see him dancing around twirling his mum's pink umbrella.  It was a sunny day.  I gave him a wave.  After he had had a good twirl, he started to pick the dandelions growing near the fence.  To him, they weren't weeds, but beautiful, yellow flowers, and he picked a whole bunch of them before giving them to his mum.

This got me thinking about our perception of things, and how it can cloud our enjoyment.  I don't like dandelions.  They pop up all over the place and won't go away.  But today, I got thinking about them as flowers and not weeds.  They are a beautiful bright yellow.  They are resilient.  And wherever they are, they certainly bloom where they are planted.  Whether that's in the middle of a garden, or in the crack between pavement slabs.

So, I decided, that today, right where I am, I'm going to make like a dandelion and bloom brightly and resiliently, right where I'm planted.  So, I planted myself in front of my computer and wrote this blog post. Just because I haven't been around for a little while, and I wanted to say "Hello".

How are you?  How are you "blooming where you are planted" right now?


 

P.S.  A big welcome to my new readers.  It's lovely to meet you.

Favourite Thing On A Friday On Saturday - Love - Bliss List #9

In May 1996 I was having a browse around a second-hand book store on the fifth floor of an odd little building in Tokyo.  This book store only sold books written in English, and as an avid reader, I spent a lot of time there.  On this particular day, my attention was caught by the title of a book " A Return to Love".  I thought it was a beautiful title, so decided to buy the book.  Best.  Decision.  Ever.

The book was written by Marianne Williamson.  Over the years, I have read it many times.  In the book Marianne explores the concept of experiencing life from a place of love or from a place of fear, and how we flip-flop between the two.  As I go through my days, I find myself asking "are you coming from love or fear here, Em?"  And it's amazing how often the answer is "  Oh, definitely cacking myself right now, Em." (Yes, I do talk to myself...  I've been known to make myself cry laughing.  Not usually on purpose though.)

Thinking about things in this way has simplified life for me. Am I feeling love or fear? Am I being loving or fearful? Are they feeling love or fear right now? How can I be loving to myself and other people in this situation, rather than fill my big girl pants?

Yep, I love the word "love".  The way I understand life, when it comes down to it, I can look at myself and the world, and the things that life brings my way, from a place of love or from a place of fear.  I know which one feels better.  It's not easy to do, but once I know I'm coming from a place of being afraid, I can do what I need to do to move into coming from a place of love.   And, so far, my experience tells me, that coming from a place of love for myself, and the people around me works out so much better in the end.

Yesterday I was really tired.  So, I decided to be loving to myself and you, by not inflicting a rubbish blog post on you and me. (All I had written by 5pm was "Hello".  It seemed a bit short.)  I decided to rest up, and write my post today instead.  I came from a place of love.  So my Favourite Thing On a Friday on Saturday this week, is living life from a place of love and not fear.  It feels good.

Little Bliss List #9 

• Spending quiet time alone. I had a good think.  It really cleared the tubes.
• My cat Ernie sitting on my head when I was in bed.  He decided he wanted some fussing and wouldn't stop head bonking my head.  It made me laugh.
• My lovely friend Ange gave me some beautiful curtains.  They look gorgeous in my front room where I'm typing now.  Thank you Ange. (I'm so thankful for my lovely friends and family and everything they do to love me.)
• Getting on the scales for the first time in a very long time and seeing that I hadn't actually managed to double my body weight even though I had ploughed my way through more chocolate than you could waggle a stick at over Easter.
• Allowing myself to feel what I was feeling, and not fighting it, being disappointed or telling myself I will always feel this way.  I curled up in my conservatory on the sofa with Ernie my cat and watched the birds with him. Admittedly, I was a touch less interested in eating them than he was, but it was still a beautiful time....

How has your week been?

If you fancy linking up with Favourite Thing On a Friday on Saturday, just add your details below.  I'm linking up with Live Lane again.  Pop over, it will make you smile.
 

P.S.  My painting today was inspired by the work of Joanne Sharpe. She is amazing.

Change Flutters By...

Butterflies have always represented transformation for me.  Something fragile, beautiful, and very powerful. I went through a stage in my life where I sought out lots of change.  I found it exciting.  Then, I went through a stage of life where change felt so unsettling, and became quite frightening for me.  Now, I believe that all change is for the better.  It is simply life unfolding.  And there is huge power in the quiet way it moves.  I think there's something very beautiful about things being transformed (I've seen what a trowel full of
make-up can do for me.  From "aaaargh" to "grrrr" in under five minutes.  That's a transformation I'm very willing to take on board.).  How do you feel about change?

I really enjoyed painting this page in my art journal.  And when I'd finished, I found three chrysalises (I feel like I'm lisping saying that) on the path in my garden...  So, I put them in a jam jar (no lid) and they are sitting in the dark, under a chair in my conservatory.  I'm keeping an eye on them and hoping they're doing fine.

Have A Beautiful Easter Sunday!

Favourite Thing On a Friday - Silver Danglers - Bliss List # 8

I've had a bit of a segue over the past week or two.  Showing pages from my art journal.  To redress the balance, I'd like to share with you a new design I put together recently.  My sister is now the delighted owner of these silver and peruvian opal drop earrings.

Her reaction when she unwrapped them is my Favourite Thing On A Friday this week. "Ooh, wow, gorgeous!" Followed by her putting them straight on.  You don't get much more positive feedback than that. Thanks sis.  I'm glad you love them.










Not too shabby.  Even if I do say so myself.  Have you had a great reaction to a present you've made for someone?

Little Bliss List # 8

• My friend coming to cut back all the plants in my garden.  It really means a lot that she offered her help in this way.  Thank you.   

• Crying laughing with my friend.

• Getting a hug from my nephews.  They are taller than me now.  I love them both so much. Where did that time go?

• Showing my mum and dad my art journal and having them tell me how much they love my paintings.  I'm 43, and it still feels great to know your mum and dad think you're fab!

• Steve making me laugh.

• Getting an enormous chocolate bunny for Easter from my sister and her family.  Not being able to wait until Easter Sunday to eat him.  Biting into the ears and feeling a bit like I was committing Easter Bunny-ocide. Sincerely apologising to the chocolate bunny for eating him. Telling him how ruddy, bloody tasty he was.

•  Seeing a sparrow land on the garden lawn with a mouth full of small downy feathers.  Watching him fly into the eaves of my house to, literally, feather his nest.

How has your week been?  I'm linking up with Liv Lane again.  If you fancy linking up with Favourite Thing on a Friday, just enter your blog post into the link tool below and we'll be over to say hello.  ♥

A Gift For You - Meet Hana

Hello there.  I'd like you to meet Hana...



Hana means "flower" or "nose" in Japanese, and as she has a pretty nose and a flower in her hair, I thought Hana was a perfect name for her.

I don't know about you, but I don't always feel beautiful, or believe that I am.  I can scare myself when I look in the mirror.  Let's just say mornings are not my friend.  One of the things I used to tell the children I was teaching, was that we are all beautiful, on the inside and out, because there is no-one else quite like us in the world and that makes us very, very special.  Sometimes it seems easier to believe that about other people than ourselves, so I painted Hana, because I figured we could all use a reminder that we are beautiful and to believe in our own beauty.

Please feel free to right click on Hana and save her as a jpeg to your computer.  You can print her off and put her near your mirror, so that when the morning isn't your friend either, you can remember that you are completely beautiful, because there is no-one else quite like you walking around on the earth.  (All I ask is that you don't use Hana for commercial purposes, printing her onto anything for resale.  She is a gift for you.)

If you would like to download Hana to your smartphone then feel free to use this smaller image...

Here are the directions for download for your smartphone... 

• Visit this page on your phone

• Click on the image

• Hold your finger on it

• Save it

• Go to settings, then Wallpaper

• Choose photo from Camera

This should give a reminder everytime you look at your phone that you are beautiful.  Don't forget that.  It's true.

Have a beautiful week,

 


P.S. If you have any problems downloading Hana, just let me know and I will resize her for you. ♥