Blooming

Neighbors half a mile from us planted mixed wildflower seeds adjacent to the road last spring.  The resulting plants have thrived under their care throughout the summer.  Now they’re ablaze, flagrantly sharing variegated glory with everyone who passes by.

Not far away from this splendor, a single plant grows at the lake’s inlet from a patch of decayed, rotting sticks.  It recently thrust forth a single tiny bloom, as if to declare maturity and triumph even in the face of adversity. 

In every circumstance, growth precedes radiance.  Blooming is the culminating, ideal moment. I wonder about the value we place on human development: the processes and their contexts, the experiences, phases, and breakthroughs that produce blooms of the soul and spirit.