“But I believe one should bloom where one is planted, and now I have roots here as well.”

A colleague of mine who started her career teaching art at the high school was moved down to my middle school some years ago.  Next year, she is moving back up there and is absolutely delighted, as photography is apparently her true passion. I never would have guessed that she longed to be elsewhere doing something else because she has inspired so many students here who have created such amazing work these years, and her disposition has always been so sunny and bright.

I told her the transition will be bittersweet.  I am happy that she is able to be doing what she prefers, but she will be surely be missed!  She emailed back the most amazing thing, “I believe one should bloom where one is planted, and now I have roots here as well.”  (As a librarian, of course I had to run and find the original source.  (It is 1 Corinthians 7:20-24, by the way.) Talk about mindfulness!  What a great way to look at life.  You hear stories all the time about people trudging through life and work with their eye focused on the promise of a blissful retirement.  Then the follow up story of the same individual, once reaching their perceived utopia, being either disappointed, or with not enough health or longevity to enjoy the destination.

Now when I think of this in terms of myself and my own life, I realize how very lucky and blessed I am HERE and NOW.  During the hustle and bustle and stress of everyday life and work I periodically lose sight of this, and yes, I do have a plan for an early retirement (ahh… palm trees!), but in the meantime, my sons, though they drive me nuts, still want me to play soccer with them;  my job, though stressful at times, allows me to express creativity and be helpful to kids; and palms, though beautiful, do not change colors in the fall, or allow the sun to shine through just so at sunset, or hold on to the winter snow until dawn when the sun hits and they glisten.