Are you strong enough to grow rosemary?
I haven’t been. (And I’ll get to the “strong” part here in a moment.) Rosemary dies under what I thought was my terribly brown thumb. Isn’t rosemary supposed to grow easily? It loves sun and you hardly have to water it. Not so for me.
I keep buying it and trying it in different locations thinking that must be the problem. Heck it grows on the roadside wild in some states.
But today the mystery has been solved.
I once again decided it was time to try my hand at rosemary, so I impetuously pulled over to a roadside nursery. Yes! They had some. I grabbed a pot and crossed my fingers.
At the checkout, I remarked to the saleswoman how it’ll probably die. I’ll end up killing it. Again.
The woman turned and looked me straight in the eyes. “Well, you know what they say, it takes a strong woman to grow rosemary,” she said. I felt a chill up my spine.
“Excuse me,” I said.
“Only a woman with a strong, steadfast belief in herself can grow rosemary,” she repeated.
Ohhhhh. Hmmm. OK. Wow. Let me process that tidbit. I crawled into my car and sat there.
I have been undergoing a transformation in my life. Recently I quit my job, taking a leap out into the great unknown to sit with myself and find out who I truly am and what I truly am being called to do in this life. I’ve been asking myself questions like: Who am I? What do I believe? Do I matter?
I often ask for guidance and signs, too. And I actually get a lot of them. It’s pretty cool. So I took this as a potential message to pay attention to.
I let the saleswoman’s words sink in. And I felt a “tingle” in my gut. A “knowing,” if you will.
I have been through so much in my life and now, yes now, I was being “told” I was ready. I felt it in my soul. I was strong enough.
As I wiped away the tears that I didn’t even realize had begun spilling down my face, I repeated the words to myself. “I am strong. I am self aware. I am caring. I am embracing my true, authentic self. I am enough. I am going to be ok. I matter.” It felt true. Something inside had shifted.
I came home and planted the rosemary. And I have no doubt it will grow to be healthy, beautiful and nourishing without asking anything much of me except to appreciate all that it is.
Where are are you in your life’s journey? With some awareness, staying in the present and loving yourself, you can be strong enough to grow rosemary, too.
