I’ve relocated to the bed of flowers near your back porch.
I’ll be honest, they’re not looking their best. A salad bar that quietly gave up around 1997 comes to mind.
If I were a rookie observer; a squirrel, perhaps, who sees the world entirely through fear and acorns, I might look at the wilted stems and cracked, icy soil and assume the party is over. Life has packed up and abandoned your garden for good. But I know better.
This phase is what I call The Perennial Heart.
(Or The Big Snooze, when I’m feeling less poetic.)
Your species has an exhausting attachment to the idea of “blooming.” You seem convinced life should be a perpetual summer, an endless hustle where, unless you’re producing or visibly thriving, you’re somehow failing. You treat your energy like an LED lightbulb, expected to shine at full brightness for 50,000 hours.
A small correction:
You’re not an LED lightbulb.
You’re a biological organism that needs snacks and naps.
Look closer at the plants beneath me. They aren’t dead. They’re resting, deep in the stillness of existence. There’s wisdom in how a plant allows itself to go dormant. This isn’t giving up or being lazy; it’s trust. No living thing can remain expressive all year long.
If a peony tried to bloom in February, it wouldn’t be brave.
It would be a nitwit.
These quiet, inward seasons; the times when you feel dry, unseen, or frozen, are not empty. They’re restorative. Without them, there would be no energy left for spring. The plants are conserving their strength for what comes next, storing power the way I store the locations of my favorite mice.
So perhaps offer yourself some kindness during your own “Winter.” Just because you aren’t visible or producing doesn’t mean nothing is happening. Some of the most important growth happens in the dark, unseen by anyone.
Including a mildly judgmental owl with strong opinions about your patio furniture.
I’ll stay here a while, keeping the perennials company. They’re excellent listeners, mostly because they don’t interrupt me to discuss their cryptocurrency investments.
