Growth & Beauty in Hard Places
How is everyone doing right now? I don’t know about y’all but this past month feels like an entire year in and of itself. It has been scary, frantic, peaceful, relaxing, sad, happy, and just about every other emotional adjective in between…all rolled into one long month of isolation! I’ve lost all inspiration and then found myself so inspired that I crank out more in a few days than I do in an average month! I’ve despaired at not being able to make any plans and then turned around and made more plans than I typically do in an entire year! I’ve felt lazy and laid around doing nothing and I’ve felt energized and knocked off every item on my to-do list plus some! I’ve played more Facebook quizzes than ever in the history of my Facebook account and commented on more of my friends’ posts than ever before. One constant through this thing in my life has been music. I’ve listened to so much great music and seem to feel all the lyrics a little more intensely now than before. Have you noticed that you’re feeling more during this time than before? Or are you noticing that you’re finding more ways to numb yourself than before?
I know that we aren’t all living the same COVID-19 story. Some of you are at home alone isolated from family and friends, others are still working and worrying that they’re literally putting their life and those of their family members at risk each time they leave the house. Some folks have enough money in the bank to cover their expenses during this time of unemployment, meanwhile others are wondering where they’re going to get the money to pay for food and rent this month. Some people are working from home and loving it, others are working from home while simultaneously trying to monitor their newly homeschooled children and they’re going crazy trying to keep up with it all. Whatever your story or situation, I encourage you to allow yourself to feel your way through it and find ways to grow in this rocky situation.
We are pretty blessed during this quarantine, but that doesn’t mean that it has been an easy time for us. As I was out on a walk the other day I came across the Blue Bonnet pictured above growing right out of a large rock. I was so struck by its beauty that I had to stop and get a closer look. I wondered why I noticed it in particular when I was literally surrounded by a field of Blue Bonnets. As I sat down on the ground next to it to ponder this, I realized that it was taller than all the other Blue Bonnets and thought that must be why I noticed it. However, as I sat there in the stillness admiring its beauty, I realized:
1. It stood out because of the contrast of its beauty against its hard, rough, gray, rocky foundation.
2. It stood out because of its isolation. Its distance from the other Blue Bonnets made it more noticeable.
3. It stood out because it was standing taller than the other Blue Bonnets.
Upon closer inspection, I noticed that it wasn’t actually taller than the other Blue Bonnets, but the fact that it was growing out of the rock made it appear taller than the others. The isolation and hard circumstances that it grew out of are what made it more noticeable and beautiful. I won’t lie and tell you that this revelation didn’t bring me to tears. It did. My friends, you and I are all going through and have gone through tough circumstances and right now we are all going through some form of isolation. Please don’t miss the opportunity in this tough situation. Open yourself to the growth opportunities available to you during this unique time in history!
One thing that I’m learning about growth is that we don’t get to pretend to grow. We don’t get to shove our feelings and our truth down deep inside and still grow into the person that we’re supposed to be. We have to live out our truth and BE who we were created to be. We can’t pretend to be someone or something we’re not and we have to let ourselves feel the emotions that happen as a consequence, good or bad, of the choices that we make each moment of our lives. Some of those emotions hurt and others are wonderful. Feeling our way through the pain in our life isn’t easy and often it isn’t a pretty process either. (If you are a pretty crier, I envy you by the way!). It is however a necessary process. We either grow or we shrivel up. Either way, we are all eventually going to die. The real question is how we want to live; beautifully growing until the end or shriveled and wilted?
So, how are you feeling? What beauty is waiting to be developed on the other side of this rocky situation? Please…choose to grow beautifully through the rough rocky circumstances of life, whatever they may be! The world needs your unique beauty!