One Day You Will Look Back

One day you will look back and see that all along you were blooming
— Morgan Harper Nichols, All Along You Were Blooming

This quote has helped me trust that a flower’s journey from seed to blooming is also true for me (and other people, too).

It’s easy to admire a flower and forget that it was once a small seed that gradually bloomed over time with bumps along the way.

I often compare myself to others and can see someone’s external success in any form (career, relationship, financial, emotional maturity, etc.) as evidence I am behind.

What I’ve come to learn is that everyone starts as a seed and journeys through dirt, mud, and rainy conditions in order to bloom into being a unique flower (person). Each flower in the garden is beautiful in its own special way, and there is no need for comparing their beauty.

MHN’s beautiful poem reminds me to stay in my lane and trust in my own growth process as separate from other peoples’.

Sarah Yudkin
Recovering from hustle culture and the urge to rush through life, one day at a time…

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Take a Peek Inside Our Wonderful World of Stories

Man’s heart away from nature becomes hard

Monks and holy guides of many different faiths agree that each person has their own “grace.” As Thomas Merton writes, “And each way is a grace, a special way is a special grace.”

An ancient statue of Quan Yin, seated and with flowing robes and a scroll in her hand

Were it not for shadows, there would be no beauty

On the mantel above my fireplace sits a representation of Quan Yin. I keep her there where I can always see her, because she embodies my intention and my spiritual practice as a human being and as a writer.

A partial view, seen from the back, of a mother reaching down with her hand to her toddler, as they walk

Nobody seems to mind

I lived in my suburban townhouse for nine years before I set foot inside a neighbor’s house. I knew their names and enough for a few minutes of small talk, but after that it felt safer to hurry back inside…

A bee on a lavender plant in a field of lavender.

What stands in the way becomes the way

My husband and I moved to Vermont, in part, because of our love for the land and farming. We filled our new homestead with native plants to support pollinators. This year, our farmer neighbor decided to plant corn on our border – corn laced with pesticides…