Flower Garden of Self Love

This lovely letter was sent to me via email on a cold Monday, March morning while at work, and it indeed made my day. It touches on self-love and re-discovering self. I hope this inspires some of you who may find themselves in a similar emotional/mental space. I look forward to reading about what grows and comes of this garden. Thank you for sharing your story with us!

I wrote this last week to describe the evolution of my love of self and others. Yesterday’s love is symbolic of my ex-husband. Today’s love (and hopefully future love) is symbolic of my current man. “Yesterday’s love was a weed pressing up through the cracks in my confidence and overpowering the sun. Before I understood the reality of weeds, I relentlessly watered and fed the weed hoping upon hope that it would one day bloom despite being a weed. Love was a fight to care for someone else before I knew how to love, appreciate, or respect myself. After taking time to identify and heal the cracks, I reclaimed my power over love and I chose to stop watering the weed.Today’s love began as a small seed - a friendship rooted in considerate gestures and transparent conversations leading to a foundation of trust. Love is unexpectedly blooming into the most vibrant experience imaginable. Today’s love is choosing to engage in companionship, banter, brainstorming, legacy building, and learning accompanied by moments of reflective silence and laughter. Love is long car rides with the only destination being time together, rinsing henna, baking casseroles, holding hands, making (and losing) silly bets, time with family, folding clothes, and falling asleep at the movies or in the middle of watching a game. Today’s love includes cerebral and spiritual intimacy. Tomorrow’s love requires a deliberate effort to continually extend grace and gratitude, learn preferences and priorities, share laughter and light, engage in exploration and observation. Tomorrow’s love is gentle redirection, support at the end of a long day, encouragement to step out of the comfort zone and walk boldly in our purpose, and a deliberate effort to make the other smile. Tomorrow’s love is free from expectation and full of moments that take our breath away. Both sunlight and rain are needed for tomorrow’s love to thrive and survive. I’m all in to this gardening thing, in a way I never imagined.

” Happily In the Flower Garden",

-CDWH 🌸💞🌺