Uprooting
a Cliché
“Bloom
Where You Are Planted”
Clichés, clichés. “Bloom
where you are planted” languishes in the nether world of clichés because of its
ubiquitous presence on Mary Engelbreit notecards, artwork, and refrigerator
magnets. (It is not an original Mary Engelbreit quote.*) I have seen it so many
times, it’s rather ho-hum, “Oh, there’s that
saying (cliché) again.”
Considering the
saying, cliché or not, uprooting it so to speak, is, however, worth the tiny
bit of effort it takes and I did just that.
The particular blooming
process that sparked that consideration began months ago. After a busy night
feasting on insects, my patio’s resident frogs again broke several pieces of my
Christmas cactus. I am grateful they keep the pest population in check, but
sometimes I wish they’d tone down their exuberance.
 |
| Frogs on my patio swing and jump from the hanging plant chains, eating insects and leaving broken plants in their wake. |
With little thought
and having no clue as to their color, I scooped up the broken pieces and stuck
them in the closest pot with available soil. A few days ago when I spied the
abundant cactus blooms brightening the pot, I said, “Yep. They bloomed where
they were planted.”
 |
| Once broken, the Christmas cactus now blooms. |
As a gardener, of
course I know that if I planted crocus or snowdrop bulbs in my Central Florida
yard, they probably would not bloom where they were planted without significant
manipulation on my part. That’s not the point.
 |
| Spider Lily that took hold, grew, and bloomed--in a vacant lot. |
Too often, I, we, do not bloom where we are planted. On
this January day, still early in the New Year, it’s a sure bet that many of our
blooming resolutions have already dried out and withered from lack of attention
and commitment. Conversely, in this time of resolution and reinvention, the
excuses/reasons we cannot bloom flourish.
Bloom 1: I can’t
keep up that exercise regimen because . . .
Bloom 2: I can’t go
there because . . .
Bloom 3: I can’t eat
well because . . .
Bloom 4: I can’t
______________ (fill in the blank with your chosen creative endeavor) because .
. .
Bloom 5: I can’t
because I don’t:
Live
in the right place
Have
enough money
Have
enough time
Have
any support
Have
a relationship
Bloom 5: I can’t
because I have:
Too
many children
Too
many responsibilities
Too
much to do
Too
much weight to lose
Too
much debt
A
demanding job, family, schedule
We have abundant
reasons/excuses for not blooming where we are planted. Refusing to bloom is a
choice—we refuse because, after all, most of our reasons/excuses are more about
choice than anything else. After we have met our basic needs (and I mean basic,
not some consumer-culture-dictated nonachievable lifestyle), we have no good
reason not to bloom, in whatever form
that takes.
Toss those limiting
“I don’t haves” and “I do haves” like so much weedy yard waste. Consider where
you are planted and what you need to bloom and do so.
*The Bishop of
Geneva, Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622) was first to use the quote, “Bloom
where you are planted.” Salesian spirituality is a practical path for life in the modern world. It provides a
roadmap for the spiritual journey as people embrace the duties of their
individual lives. Salesian Spirituality also is a universal call to holiness, to,
in Sales’s words, “Bloom where you are planted.” This “spirituality of the
heart” is as relevant today as in the time of St. Francis de Sales himself and
is an all-embracing, down-to-earth spirituality. You can see more at: http://www.sfdsassociation.org/spirituality/5934-what-is-salesian-spirituality.html.
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