Alstoemeria. A common flower, if ever I’ve seen one.
Put a few flashy flowers – like gerbera daisies, a cluster of ranunculus or a pincushion protea for flare – into an arrangement, and you can simply pad it with greenery and alstoemeria.
She’s the ‘filler’ of flower department, if you will.
Not too costly, not too fancy. She adequately fills in where the important stuff leaves gaps.
We’re drawn to flashy and fancy. And if we’re honest, we tend to value it more. It’s easy to celebrate the big, while all but dismissing the small and simple.
We mourn the passing of the statement bud, while haphazardly tossing the wilting filler.
But what if you feel like the ‘filler’?
Simple, unappreciated, unnoticed. Behind the scenes, and restless.
Never enough.
If I could cup your sweet face in my hands, I would say this to you…
Bloom.
I would pull you in close and whisper it: bloom.
Right where you are, with what you have. Pull out the stops, drop the mask, and become who you were uniquely created to be.
Bloom, sister, bloom.
Whether you stand alone and cause a stir, or fill in the gaps and blossom backstage, we need you to bloom.
You add something unique to the bouquet of humanity that no one else can. Bring it.
Show up, and keep showing up.
Bloom, and keep blooming.
I would look you square in the eyes and declare:
Your value has nothing to do with other people’s ability to recognize it, and your beauty in no way hinges on the ability of others to appreciate it.
You are precious, lovely and significant beyond your own ability to comprehend.
Stop allowing comparison to steal your joy.
If you don’t look like the blossoms beside you it’s because you were never intended to. Stop trying.
When you embrace who you’re created to be, you’ll free those around you to more fully be themselves. Freedom and authenticity are contagious.
Please understand that as long as you build your identity on what the world expects of you, you’ll come up short. Every. single. time.
Or you’ll wither trying to keep up.
You’re okay. It’s going to be okay.
Pinterest isn’t the authority on what creativity looks like. Facebook isn’t the authority on what a vibrant social life looks like. And Instagram isn’t the authority on what beautiful hair and homes look like.
Creativity and community and beauty are broader and deeper and more fluid than pixels will ever be able to capture. There’s treasure in the simplest of things, glory in the smallest of moments…beauty in the mess…if only we’ll take the time to look.
Take the time.
Simplicity is striking, complexity is overrated.
Celebrate the small. Press into it and own it.
You’re mesmerizing, really. Anything but common.
You add beauty and color and value to the bunch, simply by being you. Nothing more, nothing less.
Just you. All of you. Broken and messy and simple and beautiful.
The cure for feeling like you’ll never be enough is realizing that you already are.
And there’s absolutely nothing you can do to change that.
What you need to decide is whether you’re going to continue to hustle for it, and come up short, or embrace it and settle into it.
Choose wisely.
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These gorgeous shots were taken with my iPhone (unedited) with my new favorite (cheap) little gadget:
the Easy Macro Lens
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