Growing

Knowing that we can be loved

exactly as we are

gives us all the best opportunity for

growing into the healthiest of people.

Fred Rogers

The beloved “Mr. Rogers”

An amaryllis bud gets fuller reminding us of the potential each person has to grow, which can happen in psychotherapy.

An update every few days does not do this amaryllis justice. The redness is clearly visible here…but before I had a chance to post this…it grew more and more…

The bloom of an amaryllis inspires us to love and be loved.

Fred Rogers reminds us in the above quote about how being loved “as is” helps us each to grow in healthy ways. If you’re a parent, can you go over right now to your child and give him/her a hug and let them know that your are in love with the person they are right now? Even if she has a zit on her forehead, or he has just knocked over your favorite vase. If you’re you, then can you give yourself a hug and be thrilled with who you are, right now and in this place? Enjoy the creation of you, just for a bit…and if that is a struggle for you, think about it, talk about it, journal about it, work on it…find the truest you that is delightful and precious–and revel in it.

I’m revelling in this amaryllis. We are coming up to the shortest day of the year, with only a few hours of daylight…and this plant is going to pop her blooms open right around that day. She didn’t get the memo that it is cold outside, and she is looking hot in her red outfit. I was going through a long list of emails this morning that had been neglected during the week with her sitting on the table beside me keeping me company. She’s cheerful and friendly, and makes it easier for me to be positive while i work.

I was at Shelmerdine’s nursery–while I did have a few things to pick up yesterday, it was a great excuse to wander around a greenhouse. I don’t do it often enough, because I find it restores my soul to be surrounded by growing…green is good, and there is lots of goodness all around at a greenhouse. I’m loving this amaryllis so much, I’m feeling the need to keep growing happening at my house…and paperwhites were 40% off. Don’t you love it when a bargain scratches right where you itch? So…here we go:

Paperwhite bulbs will grow during the dark and cold days of january, providing encouragement during hard days like psychotherapy can provide for a client during difficult times.

The little green tips on the top of these bulbs tell me that they’re just itching to grow…and now that they are sitting by the window, they’re all set up to take off. These guys don’t even need soil to grow, just put their ends in water and off they go.

These plants that are growing are inspiration at home for me. I continue to be honored every day during the week by the inspirations clients are to me at work…how they invest in talking about the “tough stuff”; how they think about what we’ve talked about in between sessions and come in ready to work with it some more; how they find themselves able to make changes that they used to think were impossible; how they dare to look their spouse deep in the eye, and be dangerously and delightfully candid; how they dare to look at me and unload something they’ve carried alone for years. I’m humbled and inspired by the growth happening with couples, and men and women at our office. Amazing.