Winter blues were nipping at my heels.
The words of a friend encouraged me. “I think the winter doldrums is a perfect time for us to go inside ourselves and reflect. And then, we can burst out in the spring like the beautiful spring flowers do. We are all beautiful flowers in waiting! Think spring, growth, beauty...”
I was graced to accept her words and this winter season as a time to simply go with the flow and settle in for some reflection. Today, I took some time to imagine the dormant state of bulbs under the frozen ground. What’s happening there?
I love words and went to my dictionary to find the meaning of the word, DORMANCY:
“a state of minimal metabolic activity with cessation of growth, either as a reaction to adverse conditions or as part of an organism's normal annual rhythm.”
Normal annual rhythm.
Key words: Normal. Annual. Rhythm.
Dormancy is a brief respite from the rigorous needs of the plants; a period of rest and inactivity while awaiting spring. Without this rest period, a plant’s survival is put at risk. Forcing leads to fatigue. Periods of rest are crucial to survival.
Nature offers some personal applications: Forcing induces bulbs to bloom when you want them to, rather than when they normally do – ahead of their natural schedule and out of its natural environment. If plant dormancy is prevented by too much external, unnatural stimuli, the plants survival is put at risk. Forcing leads to fatigue. Periods of rest are crucial to survival. Forcing is hard on most bulbs. It weakens the bulb. If forcing is attempted the following year, the bloom will be small and unsatisfactory.
Well, I’ve been forcing it for years…
Seems like this winter season is the perfect time to just hunker down- free to settle into a state of being dormant, as it were. Free to store up energy reserves.
It’s time to put some simple practices into play.
Where have you been forcing it, friend?
Rest. Breathe. Be at peace.
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