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Dear Reader,
Absolutely, be sure to read today's guest column, written by Yankee in Atlanta author, Jocelyn Green. Tending to seven huge flower gardens in my yard, I agree with Jocelyn...
Not Everything Blooms at Once
By Jocelyn Green
The more time I spend working in the gardens, the more I reflect on life just based on lessons learned from gardening. We've all heard "Stop and smell the roses" and "Bloom where you're planted," but even beyond those, the analogies between gardening and our own lives are obvious:
* Being uprooted and transplanted is harder for some than others.
* We have to take root below the surface before we can branch out and really bloom.
* When we cut away what's dead, new life can take it's place.
* Margin is a beautiful thing.
* Not everything blooms at once.
When we dug out the dead Spirea that had been tucked between our spreading yews, I thought it would look empty to have more space. Instead, it looks orderly and calm, like a breath of fresh air. Being on a book deadline, I currently have no margin. Neither does my husband, since he just started grad school on top of his full-time job. And we can both testify to this truth: Margin is a beautiful thing.
The truth that has given me the most comfort, however, is so simple, it's easy to miss: Not everything blooms at once. Isn't this true in our lives as well? Anyone who says we can "have it all" should remember that even if that were true, we cannot have it all at once. As my grandmother has reminded me, "Life is long, and has many parts." Not everything blooms at once.
Right now, with no margin, I am grinding away toward a deadline. This means I have to say no to almost everything else. As much as I love writing, and love the finished product, my process is exhausting, lonely, and fraught with self-doubt. When I look at my garden and see the irises, salvia, and hardy geraniums in bloom, and nothing else, I remember, though, that this is what's blooming in my life right now. (Or maybe I'm planting it now, and the blooming part comes during the editorial stage--work with me.)
Generally, at least in the Midwest, blooms don't last long. Already, the white flowers on my crab tree and pear trees have blown away like snow. So the fact that not everything blooms at once gives us more of a chance to anticipate them, and enjoy them as they come. This, too, applies to life. Our seasons are temporary. We would do well to enjoy them as much as we can before they slip away.
--Jocelyn Green
Enter Jocelyn's book giveaway. She has 10 copies of Yankee in Atlanta to give away to readers. Send her an email, say hello and you're entered in the drawing: [email protected]
More about Jocelyn Green:
Award-winning author Jocelyn Green inspires her readers through both fiction and nonfiction. A former military wife, she offers encouragement and hope to military wives worldwide. Her novels, inspired by real heroines on America's home front, are marked by their historical integrity and gritty inspiration. Her latest releases include The 5 Love Languages, Military Edition (with Dr. Gary Chapman) and Yankee in Atlanta, the third novel in her Heroines Behind the Lines Civil War series.
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
AUTHORBUZZ: RECKLESS DISREGARD: A Parker Stern Novel (Fiction) by Robert Rotstein
Attorney Parker Stern, who suffers from crippling courtroom stage fright, takes on a libel case for an elusive video game designer known only as "Poniard." Poniard's blockbuster game, Abduction!, charges a real-life movie mogul with murdering a beautiful actress. As the body count rises, Parker begins to feel he's merely a character in a video game, fighting malevolent Level Bosses who appear out of nowhere and threaten to destroy him.
Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader click on RECKLESS DISREGARD to find out more about the book and the author, Robert Rotstein. Send him an email, he'd love to hear from you.
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