Consider the Rose

The news, social media, podcasts, 10 steps to be a better human lists, demonstrations, phone calls… 

My heart wants to be better, soar, grow, and yet my physical body has limits. I can get pieces though, and that has to be enough. I want to push through discomfort and take risks AND I must proceed with the kind of boundaries that fuel staying power, endurance.  

There are amazing flowers blooming now, conifers with juicy tips, and the milkweed is already starting to bud up—gasp! The green flood, a rushing river of enrichment, blesses us with more plenty that we can process. I feel pulled towards the musky fields, sultry flowers, and fungal blooming wood. My squirrel brain pops with idea kernels. What to make? What to stow away? It’s nearly a nervous tick. 
  Yet, not all ideas happen and some plants, who’ve I’ve been dreaming of all winter, I miss. We really can’t do it all. 
  
This is why we have community. I’m grateful for those who show up in ways I can’t or won’t and hope I can share a little bit of how I can show up with others. 
 Let go of knowing it all, doing it all, and being it all. The time to avoid burnout starts now and rose can offer a helping hand. She’s one of the sexiest, toughest, protective, soothing, calming, plants I know of.  She’s a friend to those with overzealous passion or not enough; she’s devotion with boundaries. She holds pain well, you can cry in her lap and she’ll sublimate your grief. She’s brilliant at self protection. She can hold the edges, thrive in sand, fearlessly face the salty sea with her silky petals while her roots reassure the land, “I’ve got you.” 
  
Just taking a whiff of rose can shift your nervous system from frazzled, hyped up, ready to fight (sympathetic) to calm, collected, and receptive (parasympathetic). This is key when we are asked to listen, slow down, and be emotionally nimble. 

 Rose reminds me of all the soft-hearted, maternal, warrior womxn I know. My mother comes to mind, in particular. How could she otherwise do the work that she did her entire life—fight for the underdogs, for families and children embattled with mental illness, broken in crisis? She’s got oceanic compassion and a strong shield. 

Find a shield, perhaps it’s a rose or another kind of anchor to help replenish you, protect you, and offer mentorship through this historically transformative moment, when we need to stay engaged, alert, clear, and capable. Hug trees, sit with plants, get aligned with a floral mentor. 
 

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