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Aug 16, 2011

Bloom where you are planted

tree sappling

{This little seedling is growing in the dirt of a fall tree.  This dirt is clinging to the exposed roots over a 5 foot deep hole.  Talk about blooming where your planted!}


It's a phrase I think of often.  Maybe because I have a nasty case of Iwannatravelbutcan't-itis.  It's a nasty disease for sure.  I remember as a young girl of 5 or 6, sitting on my grandpa's knee.  I was riding a pony while he bounced me up and down over and over again.  He would say "Where ya headed now girl?" and I would say random things like the store, home etc.  On this particular day he asked me where I was headed and I shouted out "Vermont!".  He chuckled and I rode to Vermont that day.  From that day forward I wanted to go to Vermont.  Every report in school was about Vermont, every attempt at drawing was the state bird of Vermont or the mountains.  Autumn became my favorite time of year and I wished enthusiastically every time 11:11 (am or pm) came around that I would find myself one day in Vermont. 


Fall in Idaho


As a teenager I changed this wish just a little and threw in "Let me meet a wonderful boy....in Vermont."  For close to 20 years I dreamed of going to Vermont.  All that time I lived in a multitude of places, visited many places in the western US and while I fell in love with some of them (Portland Or anyone?  No? How about the coast of Oregon or Wa?) I had that ever nagging thought in my mind... "Yes it is wonderful but it's no Vermont" (or in later years Maine since my practical nature kicked in when I found out it was cheaper!).


Long Shadows
 


A year or so ago I gave up my life long dream of ever going to New England.  I finally said, "One day we will travel to see all the amazing historical places of the region, taste fresh syrup (or watch it begin from the tap), and see the beauty but it will not be now.  I am okay with this."  My husband didn't believe me bless his heart.  You see in the middle of my breakdown last year I came to realize that I had been wishing my life away.  I wanted so badly to be in another place that I could not see the great things around me.


desert flowers


Over the last couple of years I have slowly come to peace with the fact I live in Idaho and not necessarily the pretty part and that I will most likely never own a chunk of land in the middle of no where (and I do mean the middle!).  I came to realize that sage brush can be pretty, that barren expanses of sand can be beautiful and that fall does not have to mean more falling leaves than any one person can handle. 


sand dunes


It's all a state of mind.  Happiness is a state of mind, contentment is a state of mind, joy is a state of mind.  For me, this year has been about finding these things, right where I am.  The year is not through yet and I am making baby steps.  I choose to find the beauty around me, because it is there. 


River at sunset


Hope you have a wonderful week.  Bloom where you are planted! 

3 comments:

Mike said...

This is a very interesting post as my wife and I were just discussing how we are never able to stray to far from home...thanks for sharing your insights on this.

Kim said...

Mike- Its been an odd change for me. I have finally accepted where we are and now I can't picture myself anywhere else. There is some saying or thought that says something to the effect of "Home is who your with not where you are." So incredibly true for me and because of it, Idaho is now home. :)

Establishing roots | I'm Naturally Simple said...

[...] I previously mentioned in this post, I never planned to live here.  In fact Eastern Idaho was the last place on my “must [...]