Driving around town in the past few weeks, I keep noticing these feathery-looking white flowers popping up out of nowhere. They’re not clean and neat, they’re whimsical and sporadic. From far away, they seem to blanket sections of the fields in a white snowy beauty, but up close, each bloom is it’s own intricate work of art. I’ve been thinking to myself that I should ask Lauren (our official GNO florist with Blue Posy) if I should pick some for Thursday night, because they have this fun, boho, 70’s feel to me. But almost as soon as I’ve had the thought, my conscious brain quickly whisks it away with all kinds of (fear-based) reasoning about why Lauren doesn’t need my help. It reminds me that she’d think I was crazy(er). And I’ve been listening.
Until yesterday.
While I was passing a big section of these beauties in a field, sent her a voice text. It was sort of one half bold, and the other half an apology for taking her time. Then I stopped to take a picture to send to her. Her reply:
“I love those actually. I was thinking about pulling over and cutting some the other day!”
Her reply instantly set my heart at ease. Reminding me that I’m not as “crazy” as my lizard brain would like me to believe. While my amygdala is trying to keep me safe from embarrassment, by hiding all my rough and wild edges, my heart is longing to be free to share more who I am with others. To make the connections that can only be made when I share my truest self with people I trust.
Safety isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
What your conscious brain wants you to believe is staying “safe” often keeps you feeling isolated and alone. When in reality, safety is an empowered, strong place. It may look like a whimsical wildflower on the outside, but it’s an expression of all you’ve become. In her poem, Hearts Like Wildflowers, Nakita Gill nails it:
Strong enough to rise again after being trampled upon,
tough enough to weather the worst of the summer storms,
and able to grow and flourish in even the most broken paces.
That’s the heart of a wildflower.
You have the heart of a wildflower. Embrace that. Share your ideas, your journey, and your story. You’ll find that you’re not the only one. In fact, you’ll find there’s a field of white snowy beauty in others all around you if only you look for it.
Embrace your wildflower heart.
That’s the “safest” kind of strength.
to more love,
Crystal
If you’re local to DFW come join me tonight, wearing wildflowers in our hair, we’ll laugh together and learn about how to leverage our personal experiences to keep us physically and emotionally “safe” at Staying Alive GNO. There are still a few seats left. One of them is yours.
