Ready to Bloom

Summer is well underway at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens. Otherworldly nigella, also known as love-in-a-mist, waves wildly at me with its many appendages. It definitely wants to be noticed. Sometimes I feel like I’m flailing my arms about trying to garner God’s attention—I forget that I always have it.

Other flowers take a different approach: drawing me in with texture or delicate patterning. What natural gifts do I have that draw others towards me?

A Matilija poppy is completely open, revealing its center. How often am I able to fully open myself to Spirit, holding nothing back?

I have to crouch down to see a trio of tiny plants, each with distinctively different leaves. But no matter how different they are, all belong to the plant kingdom. How do I reconcile different aspects of myself that may seem contradictory?

Now I have to stand up and step back to witness waves of color.

Beds are bursting with brightness. Do I hide my true colors or let them shine?

The black blotches on the ladybird poppy are what make it distinctive, even though it can appear to be a flaw. Which of my “flaws” are really strengths?

The time has come to leave the gardens, but I make one last stop at the flowering onion. It is almost ready to shed its paper cap, revealing buds on the verge of blossom. Am I ready to bloom?

All photos © Sondra Sula.

If you like these blogs, you’ll most likely enjoy my daily devotional book, Meditations on Mendocino by Sondra Sula. Available on Amazon in paperback or Kindle versions. Now also available at The Mendocino Book Company in downtown Ukiah, California.