When my ex-husband moved out of our house after seventeen years there together, one of the first things I did was head to a local home improvement store to buy flowers. Though that was almost a decade ago, I can still clearly see the gold and bronze mums I purchased. Planting them allowed me to get in touch with nature, a surefire way help me feel centered. It also allowed me to immediately transform a space.
I would be lying if I didn’t tell you that at times, I’m an instant-gratification kind of gal. I’d rather walk into a store and buy something than order it. I’d rather cook a meal than go through the process of driving somewhere, waiting for a table, and then waiting again for someone else to cook it. And when it comes to yard work, there’s nothing like clearing a flowerbed of weeds.
Best of all, though, is going to the landscaping store and purchasing pots of healthy flowers, then coming home and transplanting them into pots or flowerbeds, changing dull and boring to beautiful and awesome. The whole process makes me feel accomplished.
And no, I’ve never really enjoyed the process of planting flower seeds. There’s too long of a delay from planting to bloom. (And these days, you don’t really save much money).
Darling, I adore flowers. They show a sense of love around a home, whether in the yard or in vases around the house.
In addition to roses, spring and summer brought petunias and impatiens. The previous owners had planted a half-dozen tulips and a few crocuses. Our first fall in this house, I gifted JB a dozen daffodils, despite not yet knowing when (or if) I was going to live here.
Now that we’ve been here together for more than a decade, I’ve seen what joy these few early spring shows of color have brought both of us.
So, even though I’m much more satisfied with the whole process of buying flowers-in-bloom and planting them, in early September I spent some time envisioning an early spring display of tulips, hyacinths and daffodils.
The thing about tulips and daffodils and all those other early spring flowers, though, is that you have to plant them in the fall. Then, you have to wait through winter and the earliest days of spring for them to work through the displacement of earth and bloom.
This is a huge exercise for me not only in patience, but also in the process of creating a vision and a plan of action. It’s a reminder to me that transformations (that last) only seem to happen in an instant. And it’s a giant leap of faith.
Let’s talk about creating a vision and a plan.
Darling, I believe that one of the best ways to live a life that you love is to begin with a vision of how you want to live it. You envision some of the big stuff: what kind of work sets your soul on fire, what kinds of relationships make you feel nourished and supported, and where you want to live.
You also envision some of the little stuff, too. Like, what kind of activities and rituals would create the perfect first hour of your day. And how you want to feel when you climb into bed at night. These little details will help you realize when you’re on the right track towards that BIG Juicy vision of living. They are clues and rewards.
Then, if you want to take a vision into reality, you must take action. I’m not an advocate of planning each and every moment of the day, but I do know that you need to plan for the milestones.
Plans in my world are things like creating an outline for your book. Or following the Couch Potato to 5K milestones of adding time to your runs. Or redecorating your home by beginning with a new sofa. What doesn’t mean planning to me? A dictatorial view of living with each moment planned. You still want to allow for a little serendipity!
Creating a vision means that you give up the idea the all transformations happen instantaneously.
We are human and though making a decision can have the instant mindset affect, we still have to be willing to be patient. This is another area where visions and plan marry well.
Creating a vision is also a heck of a lot about faith.
It means that you can see yourself as being worthy of accomplishing a big goal. It means that you have a desire to break through resistance and move towards what you desire. It means choosing love instead of fear.
Having faith means that you’re willing to invest in your vision. Maybe it’s by taking a class, hiring a coach, or buying something with the gut knowledge that it’s going to serve you in the future.
Having faith also means that you are willing to take leaps without knowing how things are going to turn out. It means waiting through he really dark and cold times that are inevitable in the course of being human, because, baby, life is never going to be always perfect.
So, choosing to plant bulbs in the fall and wait for the spring is a great example of how I approach life.
To be honest, the me twenty years ago couldn’t have done this.
I had this vision of a beautiful display of early spring flowers. I planned a variety of flowers to take advantage of different colors, heights, and bloom time. I invested money and time into the planning and ordering. Then, when the bulbs arrived, I invested time and energy into planting.
And now comes the faith part. I have to have faith that the bulbs were planted at the right depth and will make it through the winter. I have to have faith that they bloom. I also have to have faith that I’ll stay healthy and be able to see them.
My gut tells me that this small plan of flowers is about something bigger. It’s about investing in my relationship and my home. It’s about nurturing myself and JB.
It’s also about love.
Loving myself enough to understand that I deserve the life I envision. Loving myself enough to know that I don’t have to transform overnight to deserve love.
What about you? Do you have a vision for your life? Is there a small portion that you can envision the details? Is it time to begin creating a plan for your life instead of just living by the seat of your pants? Are you willing to step out in faith for your vision?
Are you ready to write your own love story?
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