Make Space for What's to Come

By Kristy Belaney

It has been far too long since I have written on this blog. Life has been, well, life. It is amazing to me how much I continue to learn, to grow, to change. Everything we come to know evolves continuously and no matter how hard we try to hold on to certain moments, it is simply not humanly possible. When we are finally able to accept that, what follows is the closest thing to peace we can have on this earth.

As gardeners, we are blessed to be in the presence of life's greatest teacher- nature. So much can be taken from our backyard paradises and applied directly to our daily lives. There is a season for all, one no more or less important than the other. Yet on the days when our gardens are full of color, buzzing with life and promise, we cherish those moments and our smiles shine the brightest. And on the days where black and white is all you can see and the stalks are stripped bare and silence surrounds you, we feel sad for the end. What we really need to focus on is how letting go, whether it be something as simple as the flowers in a garden, a feeling, a place in time, a person...
is the only sure way we can make space for what is to come.

My native garden from NOG turned 1 year old in July. The amount of life I have witnessed utilizing this tiny patch of earth has astounded and inspired me. Pollinators of all kinds, frogs, toads, birds, an entire ecosystem in the middle of the city. From my own milkweed plants and milkweed slated to be cleared and destroyed at our local beach, I collected and raised 41 beautiful Monarch butterflies this summer. I cannot express how grateful I am to watch the miraculous cycle of life these precious butterflies undergo and ultimately being the one who sets them free. They inspire me in so many ways. Letting them go is never easy but I know it is the only way to make space for more to come. 

Breathe. Smile. Enjoy each moment. Embrace the change. Everything is as it should be. 

 I wrote the poem below for my flying flowers, the inspiration behind this blog post and so much more in my life.

Inspired not without a flame

days creeping by too slow too tame
then below the ground a sleeping root did spring
shooting up from the brown a green and welcoming thing
leaves that unfurled and loosened each day
a stem reaching higher to the breeze that sways
some distance beyond a flower that flew
a weary orange flicker in a vast mighty blue
destiny awaiting a legacy to be filled
memory set in the future driven only by will
at last comes to rest upon a familiar unknown
the reasons now clear for the miles its flown
a journey now over one last breath draws in
passing the light for a new flame to begin
with this travelers demise hope has washed ashore
I hear it calling, drawing me, purpose once more
A fragrance so sweet only angels could wear
it sings it dances it's heavy in the air
led to a place earth split open a crack
life abuzz all around I turn the leaves back
a small ivory dot hidden on soft leaves a splendor
I tear it from the stalk milk bleeding the tender
from within this tiny sphere change is taking place
in a few days something different a completely new face
and days after that more changes to come
I watch and I learn my world comes undone
each time a new flame bursts forth from the jade
I relish and cherish the miracle made
that orange and black flicker my heart it does keep
a flying flower aglow with winds gentle sweep ~ KLB