Be the Wildflower That Grows Where She Wants
How do we begin to feel wild and free? Because while I’m not there often, sometimes I am and it feels good!
I love the imagery this creates in my head... BE the WiLdfLoWer that grows where she wants!
You know when you’re walking in nature or driving on the highway, and you casually turn your head to look out the window, not expecting to see anything, and yet there it is... everything? Everything wild and everything free?
I find nature so dramatic; once where brown twigs, bare tress, and death lay, vibrant shades of greens, pinks, purples, and yellows have taken over. Everywhere there's nature, crowding in on itself, so abundant as if stretching and reaching for you like the outstretched arms of a million nonnas coming in for a hug.
Nature is in its wild and free season, and it's all there for the taking—trees and wildflowers and tall grass all swaying in the breeze. You can't help but feel a nudge toward the philosophical. Their chaotic filling of the wintry void is a subtle call to action as they remind us that it takes them no effort to be what they are; they simply are. Like them or not, they're true to their essence.
And wouldn't it be incredible to be like them—to be wild, free, colorful, as is, without complaint, our own sort of beauty in this world filled with other sorts of beauty; without a care, without compare. The sunflower does not care it’s not the daisy, the cherry blossoms are not the blueberry bush, the fern is not the ivy. And yet, they all flourish and thrive, and bear no burdens.
Wouldn’t it be incredible to sway in the breeze without a care? Wild and free and at peace?
YES! But alas, we’re not flowers, we’re humans and our rational humanness is always ready to squarely kick us in the tush, catapulting us back in line when we get too dreamy, urging us to do as the others, be as the others, perform, play our roles, don't push back.
Reality. What a buzzy kill.
Do we even know where we want to grow, or was there a brochure we were handed in college, maybe even before college, maybe at birth, and we thought, well, that looks nice and safe?
A couple of birthdays ago, my friends and I got together for a yoga class in a gorgeous studio that reeked of zen and calm—it was perfection! Near the end, my friend who taught the class read to us a Mary Oliver poem, and I’ve remembered none of it except for this one line: Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?
(Gets me every time.)
Profound, hard-to-answer, a “who am I” question that I sometimes feel I’m able to answer, but sometimes not. The more life experience I’m met with, the more courage I have to attempt an answer.
What does it mean to be wild and free?
It's scary to step outside of our normal mental programming and begin to do, see, and think differently than we have—don’t we feel like we have all the answers? Just look to the past, littered with data about who we are.
We're adults after all, and adulting can often make us forget how to be wild and free. We’ve created our adult-sized molds, and they fit perfectly, albeit a little snug and pinchy mostly. But as long as it fits society’s standards, then it’s an acceptable way to be. And since no ego chooses to feel good over being right, we fight the good fight to protect ourselves and our "identity"—that’s full of holes.
We're always changing, though, even if we don't fully take notice. Think about it—are you the same person you were five years ago?
Not a chance. Your cells are constantly shedding and renewing themselves, so there's that...
But you're also a more experienced person. You've learned new lessons, taken adventures never imagined, connected with new people, left others behind, and connected so deeply with ideas and events that left a mark on your soul and left you spellbound. You're not the same person.
You've slowly morphed.
Change happens whether you realize it or not.
But wild and free asks for your attention. That's the difference.
Wild and free ask for you to be deliberate and intentional. You hold your wildness in front of you and take steps toward it. Fully aware, fully engaged.
What is it you want to experience with your one wild and precious life?
The answers are all in there—deep within your heart.
Stillness helps you get there.
And that same stillness helps you to freely and carelessly sway in the breeze.
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