Bloom Where You Are Planted.

It was the 1st February here in NZ and we had arrived in the third trimester of summer. Vibrant green grass flanked by lush trees that had benefited from good rain and warm sunshine surrounded our home, their roots buried in the warm earth.  Birds sing incessantly to express their delight at the abundance of a bountiful summer.

Other than the native trees and shrubs, our garden consisted of a few lettuces, some herbs, roses, hydrangeas, fruit trees, pots of flowering plants and most unexpectedly eight self-sown tomato plants.

Their appearance was a wonderful surprise to us, as we were discussing making a trip to the garden centre to purchase our supply for the season. However, the previous seasons plants had left their seeds behind in the earth, giving life to eight of their progeny who have taken up residence in our plot.

They looked very happy where they are clustered together as if in a family group. We didn’t have the heart to break them up and shift them around so we have left them exactly where they decided to surface.

One of the plants had established itself away from the others and we respected its right to be that plant, as there is always one that doesn’t want to fit in with the crowd.

No group would be complete without the runt of the litter whose tiny frame was diminished amongst the towering vines of its siblings.

Of course they didn’t take root directly in line with the stakes we had set up from the previous year but that didn’t matter. We decided to work with them and move the stakes to accommodate their birth place and allow them to bloom where they were planted by their parents.

Flowers appeared on their vines which brought promise of fruit but I really didn’t mind if they weren’t fruit bearing, I was just so glad to have them show up in my garden.

Their presence reminded me of how we like to rip out and rearrange everything so that it fits in with our idea of how it should be, in preference to allowing life to show up in its natural state and for us to work with what comes to pass.

Bloom where we are planted? The natural world knows how to access this phenomenon, it’s we who struggle with wanting everything our way in our time or else.

Let’s not be under any illusion that if we had not nurtured the tiny tomato plants and protected them a little, they would perhaps not have survived the dry spell of weather in their early lives.

Perhaps you were not well protected or nurtured in your younger years either and that has shaped how you see yourself now?

All each of us need is an opportunity to nourish our soul so that we can bloom and grow beautiful and strong too like the little tomatoes.

They are not magnificent roses or luscious orchids they are just tomatoes but even tomatoes can be beautiful too when seen through the right eyes.

From fresh juicy tomatoes we can make so many delectable dishes and in some cultures the tomato is a staple fruit that feeds families and bring in bounty to the grower.

Never underestimate how important your life is firstly to yourself and then to the universe which you inhabit. Like the humble little tomato, you are made of stardust and are as ancient as dirt.

Your seeds weren’t developed here on Earth. They were created in the cosmos along with everything that is.

Your earthly experience has dulled you to your true identity and you have forgotten that you are made up a of spiritual DNA that does not die when you leave your body. Quite the contrary, it continues with you from lifetime to life time awaiting your attention.

You planted yourself here however many years ago and whatever your life so far you are still here just like my tomato plants.

This means that you are doing something right.

Your desire to be here was greater than the sum of all possible outcomes good, bad or otherwise.

Our little tomato plants didn’t think about survival or living they were just programmed to break out of their seed pods, make a break for the light and on arrival make the most of whatever was up there while still being tomato plants, and so did you.

Keep shining brightly.