Two beloved objects in my life have taught me valuable and comforting lessons recently.
One is my scarlet-hued hardy hibiscus, planted a couple of years ago at my old house. Every summer, I rejoice when it blooms and derive so much pleasure from its gorgeous, MASSIVE flowers.
The other is my little rainbow-maker prism that hangs in a window and delights me by spinning to send rainbows flying around the room when it gets enough sunshine.
In the past few weeks, both of these two favorite things have taught or reminded me something important and magical that I needed to know. Let’s get into it!
Lessons from my Hibiscus
While I was packing up my belongings at my old house and preparing for my big move, I realized that my beloved hibiscus hadn’t bloomed yet. This is odd because it blooms every summer, often by late June and always by sometime in July. Here it was, early August yet not a blossom in sight yet.
I remember sighing and thinking “Hmmm… this is a metaphor. None of us are blooming in our current environment. We ALL need a change. Better things are coming.” Then I moved to my new place. And on one of my first visits back to the house, voila, that hibiscus was in full, glorious bloom!
Could the energy in that house have been so toxic that it was even impacting the plants in the yard? Who knows. All I know is that I love my hibiscus and I’m glad she’s finally flowering – and that I am thriving, too, in my new location. I’m also glad that I get to go back and visit her in my old yard.
Lessons from my Rainbow-maker
Then, there’s my sweet little spinning window prism that makes rainbows for me when it’s sunny. It was one of the first things I brought into my new place, and I was excited to find the perfect sunny window for it. Alas, I tried window after window, but none were quite sunny enough.
At my old home, I had my rainbow-maker in my office window and it filled my office with rainbows on sunny afternoons. Here at my condo, it just couldn’t seem to make rainbows at any time of day.
I began to feel quite dejected. “Have I moved into a dark home? Was this the wrong place for me?” I wondered despairingly. But I tried one last window: my bedroom window, which faces east toward sunrise and our community pond. The next morning, I was awoken by beautiful rainbows twirling about my room!
What a perfect place to have sunshine and rainbows – it’s the best way to wake up. I’m overjoyed that the sun coming through my bedroom window each morning seems to be just what the rainbow-maker needed.
I guess the ultimate lesson here, from both my hibiscus and my rainbow-maker, is about location and timing. We can only do what we can in our current environment; sometimes we need a move or change of timing to shake things up.
I’m still unpacking from my big move, but my condo already feels like home sweet home. There’s even a neighbor nearby with a gorgeous, giant hardy hibiscus plant to provide a little eye candy on my walks with the dogs.
Hope you are blooming and spreading rainbows wherever you’re planted, too!
