An Awakening Power

A friend recently gave me Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth (made famous by Oprah). I can't guarantee I will read the entire book anytime soon but I was blown away by the opening passage. Tolle describes flowers and their role in the evolution of our consciousness in the most spiritual and graceful language. I love this excerpt-

Seeing beauty in a flower could awaken humans, however briefly, to the beauty that is an essential part of their own innermost being, their true nature. The first recognition of beauty was one of the most significant events in the evolution of human consciousness. The feelings of joy and love are intrinsically connected to that recognition. Without fully realizing it, flowers would become for us an expression in form of that which is most high, most sacred, and ultimately formless within ourselves.

(From A New Earth copyright 2005 by Eckhart Tolle.)

I have always appreciated the beauty of flowers. I love sending them to friends and family, recieving my birthday delivery each year from Drew, and remembering the many arrangements that adorned every aspect of our wedding. My favorite bouquet of flowers will probably always be my wedding bouquet. It was so creative, fun and elegant - what I wanted in every way. When I smell the scent of gardenia's it takes me back to my rehearsal dinner night when I wore one in my hair.

My appreciation for flowers stops at admiring them though. I have never been interested in planting, cultivating and seeing the full potential of a flower come to fruition as a result of my care. I have always claimed to be too busy, to not have a green thumb, etc. I have never understood why my dad spends so much time planting and taking care of his flowers and garden (although I always admire them). Now I am starting to realize that I have been missing the whole point. Rather, I have been missing out on experiencing a whole other level of beauty.

As many of you know, we are putting our house on the market (tomorrow!) and moving closer to the city. Our intention though is to buy a house that still has a decent amount of land for us to enjoy. My hope is to be able to set aside some time to plant flowers at the new house and enjoy the process. I want to experience their awakening power and draw inspiration from them as well.

For now though, I am sad to say that our recent trip to Lowe's and subsequent purchase of a Jeep full of flowers had a purely business motive. We are hoping they will increase the curb appeal of our house. Here are some pics. (I hope to have some pictures posted of our house in the next few days too.)