Your Life in Bloom: Musings on Finding Your Path & Your Courage, Grounded in the Wisdom of Nature

The origin of the wildest transformations

Your courage on the days when you’re least sure of yourself will be your salvation.

In the hardest moments, behind the overwhelming feeling that nothing will ever be okay, your life is on the cusp of blooming like it’s never bloomed before.

You have no way of knowing how you will find roots in places you never expected, grow buds from nothing, and thrive like you never thought possible.

You will someday be reminded of the lowest points of your life – the deepest heartbreak, the cloud of depression you thought would never pass, and the overwhelm that buried you under with no sign of a way out – and you will think back to how, somehow, you survived and emerged anew.

This book is made of the lessons I had to learn the hard way. But I wish I’d known they were coming.

That it is okay to not be okay. That, despite appearances and assumptions, when I was feeling the most alone and anxious and lost, I was at my most human. That I would never be that same person ever again and that knowing this would be the most powerful way to survive the storm.

I needed everything that happened to me to forge my way to the strongest and most honest version of myself. I needed to go through it all to get to now.

Love

If you don’t currently love yourself, start by loving something else.

Fall head over heels for the robin in the fir tree as you drink your morning coffee with a blanket on the porch in winter.

Love the wind in your hair as you walk through the meadow down to the stream.

Devote yourself to the flowers that make it their sole purpose in life to enchant the world.

Let the wonders of the universe bewitch you and know there’s more out there if you search for them.

Commit to falling in love with the good in the world. Stop to notice the beauty in all things. And with time, but no rush, remember how you are just another part of the universe, just like the birds, trees, mosses, and animals that warm your heart.

Open your heart.

Blooming can feel a lot like breaking

Grief and heartache can break us down until we’re no longer sure of anything. But then we put the pieces back together. And as we do, we take a closer look at the foundations. We see the opportunities and the gaps to fill. We build ourselves up again from scratch, stronger than ever before.

We choose the building blocks that matter most and design a unique