On Wanting Blooms Too Soon

Dearest Reader,

It has not gone unnoticed that many people are terribly fond of results.

They admire blooms, praise harvests, and grow animated at the sight of visible success. What receives far less attention is the long, unremarkable stretch in which nothing appears to be happening at all.

This is unfortunate, as most worthwhile things spend a considerable amount of time looking unimpressive.

People have become suspicious of slow progress. If growth cannot be photographed, measured, or announced within a reasonable interval, they begin to doubt it entirely. They prod at beginnings, compare them to finished outcomes, and grow discouraged when the early stages fail to resemble the end.

One sees this in gardens, certainly, but far more often in lives.

Relationships are abandoned before trust has had time to root. Skills are dismissed while still awkward. New chapters are judged by standards meant for established ones. Entire futures are questioned because they have not yet become decorative.

There is a great deal of vanity in wanting every season to look like spring in full display.

Some periods are meant for rooting. Others for strengthening. Some are simply for enduring weather without visible damage. None are improved by being mistaken for the wrong stage.

If something in your life appears plain at present, it may not be failing. It may merely be early.

Yours most sincerely,
Lady Staywell