The Time it Takes to Bloom

Don’t you just love a growth metaphor?

I planted these 2 amaryllis bulbs on the same day, at the same time. My two sons had chosen the bulbs themselves on a recent grocery outing. I loved the idea of us planting something together, so they each picked one of the identical boxed bulb kits to bring home.  I made the mistake of labeling the plastic planters with the boys’ names. One for each of them.

A few short days later, one of them burst into bloom. A lovely red and white pattern on velvet petals. Its neighbor sat stagnant and didn’t budge. 

My youngest son’s bulb was the late bloomer. He couldn’t accept that his flower hadn’t yet bloomed. Each day he’d grumble and demand that it bloom just like his big brother’s flower.  He tended to it, sat it in the sun, watered it, and watched with disappointment and despair. Meanwhile, the beautiful bloom continued to grow, bursting forth a new group of flowers every day or so. Feeling for my eager son, it seemed as if this one was just showing off. In fact, my oldest son wasn’t interested in the flowers at all after we planted them. When his reached its peak, I cut the stem and relocated the flowers to a vase.  This seemed like an opportunity to start fresh and level the playing field for the little guy to catch up. 

It’s been a couple weeks now and the little bulb has slowly started to make its way vertical, but its predecessor continues to thrive on its second round of blooming.

Like my youngest boy, I am impatient and demand that growth happen sooner or bigger. I look to my right and my left and compare my progress with friends, acquaintances, total strangers, other designers, and entrepreneurs. I wonder how I measure up to an imagined panel of judges. We all do this, I suppose.  It’s exhausting, isn’t it?  

But, if I take a peek at the kitchen windowsill, I see nature’s reminder. I remember all the times in the past that I thought I should have something I didn’t, only to learn that timing always plays out the way it’s supposed to. Maybe this is a lesson you have to keep learning again and again too?