Love is like a flower,; fragile yet strong, tender, life sustaining, complex and beautiful ; Take the ability to let it blossom in your Secret Garden

Why is it they say that love is like a flower; plant the seed, water it, care for it and watch it blossom! Yes, sometimes that flower may lose its petals or die, but at least you took the time to watch it grow and prosper and enjoy every second of when it opened slowly and carefully….. Beautiful isn’t it? In Winter, when it rains nothing can beat the sight of a petal with a tiny water drop rolling down its skin right into its stem and soul to feed it and comfort it. It’s like a tear of joy falling slowly down one’s face reaching your throat and finally your soul repairing you and making you whole again. In summer when the sun beams down and shows the full spectrum of colours that the beautiful petal possesses it can be breathtaking. Just as joy beams down our bodies reflecting our souls and deepest facets, letting others appreciate both the inner and outer being.

Yes, you may find that seed; brought/borrowed or stolen. Planted, cared for and loved. Yet it never blossoms or grows; a lack of faith perhaps? A stroke of fate perhaps? Or maybe just a flower never meant to be perhaps planted in a barren desert left to wither and die. A seed planted in the right place at the right time will always prosper, a seed planted out of desperation, need, greed or self love or one sided infatuation is like a seed thrown into a rubbish bag a waste of time, energy and sometimes incurring the wrath of, or to the detriment of another individual. I have planted many a seed like this and expected a flower to “Pop up” without any effort or love – impossible – the flower sometimes blooms but dies quickly and leaves a barren space in either mine or my partner’s secret garden, sometimes I or a lover have stood on this seed, planted together or alone and trampled it, broken it, beyond repair leaving it either unable to resuscitate it, bring it to life with fertiliser and water through care and understanding rather leaving behind the hurt of this bruised and battered beauty, just not meant for this world and not for this Secret Garden. Its not to say I have not or did not always put in the love and warmth vital for the flower to grow, in some cases I thought I had found my own Secret Garden and perhaps envisioned not only one flower blossoming but an entire garden filled with lilies, roses, frangipanis, sunflowers and daisies, a bright and colourful world but the season in this garden quickly turned to autumn, still hopeful as the beauty of the rust and amber leaves floated gently from the trees covering the grass with a carpet which I believed meant Winter would come and with it frostbite and an icy chill but the hope of Spring and new blossoms and aromas just around the corner waiting patiently to breathe its warm breath of life. However in both these circumstances the soil of my heart or another’s was dry and hard and not ready for that seed, not ready for beauty and not ready for love or perhaps just not in that soil perhaps not meant for my Secret Garden, perhaps not in the plan our Father has in store for me.

When I look deep inside myself, deep into my Secret Garden, I know it is ready, fertile, strong and prepared for the seed of love to be planted. Yet I am so afraid of planting that seed; afraid that the Iris might not blossom; afraid that out of fear and my blindness to reality that I may trample that St Josephs Lily again; afraid of being given that seed of an Iceberg Rose to plant only to have it stolen or crushed by the giver; Afraid I will always believe that the grass is greener, the flowers more colourful and the earth more fertile in someone else’s garden;

I am afraid to ever let another into my own Secret Garden. Maybe I never have Maybe it is time, Maybe in my Secret Garden one seed planted will fill the entire space, colours will change, seasons will come and go but at least I know I will have experienced the blessings that come with planting that flower and letting it grow.

This beauty, joy, peace, sanctity and rest I know I will find in my Secret Garden, a place I now know I have ever let anyone into not even myself.