I have been spending a lot of time in the garden. Maybe that means I am getting older. The bustle of Brooklyn's streets are somehow much less attractive than the sweetbriar these days. It also means I am privileged. Watching the plants make their spring debut is certainly a leisure activity; a small patch of green space in the city is an oasis. Above all, I am grateful...
Miracles are happening right before my eyes. Magic unfolds with every flower. What seems impossible is manifested with ease and grace. The whole world is green with life and beauty. There are also a lot of flies. It's dirty- yes, actual dirt, everywhere- and the bench is covered in bird poop. It is not perfect or sanitized or even properly pruned. But our garden is very alive!
The peony is stealing the show this week, bursting forth with big yellow blossoms of absolute summer sunshine. Yesterday, within the span of fifteen minutes, the first bud opened into full bloom. This is even more amazing because we cut the peony down to the ground every fall. It is completely razed which is actually what helps it regenerate with flourishing vibrance.
I remember spending a lot of time this winter staring at the almost bare patch where the peony grows. I just wasn't sure it was coming back. I mean, it is totally illogical to think that anything could survive that kind of destruction. I hoped that it would recover. Yet my rational mind was hung up on the details of how and the uselessness of trying to control or cajole the process. I hoped, but I did not really trust.
There is a subtle space between what you see with your eyes and what you believe in your heart. That is where faith does its silent and powerful work. Some things are not ours to curate. In fact, some of the most beautiful things are still a delicate mystery to us. Knowledge is not the same thing as understanding. Hope is not the same thing as having faith. Leave your heart open for magic and miracles- they are all around us. When in doubt, remember the peony and trust that all things are possible when hope blossoms into faith...
Follow your breath to flourish with nature herself in this beginner level practice: MAGIC
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