Article: Bouquet in the Arms of God

Dear Friends, the other day I went shopping after Zumba class and bought myself a bouquet of beautiful fresh flowers. The bouquet has pink roses, white carnations and lots of pretty purple and orchid-colored flowers mixed with vibrant sprigs of green. It’s just gorgeous really. I bought it for myself as a little “pick me up”, and also to help me stay attuned with the fairy spirits (fairies love flowers).

When I got the bouquet home, I followed the directions on the little “flower food” packet, and cut the stems before I put the flowers into water. I’m no expert on cut flowers, but I have heard that this is done to stimulate growth. Of course, it also helped the flowers to fit into my vase more easily.

As I was cutting, I tried to be very careful. I don’t like to cut flowers, even if it does help them to grow or stay “fresh”. So as I was cutting, I “apologized” to the flowers, and told them that I would be as gentle as possible. I also told them that although I knew that the cutting hurt, it was necessary to help them thrive and live longer in the water.

While I was communicating these loving sentiments to the flowers, I found myself being reminded of things that had recently been “cut” from my life, things that I really didn’t want to let go of at the time. In particular, it made me think of how painful it was to have had a close friendship suddenly & unexpectedly “cut” from my life back in September.

As I cut the flowers, I thought about how I really didn’t *want* to cut the flowers, because I thought that it might hurt them, and yet I felt it was necessary for their growth. And for a moment, I caught a glimpse into the Heart of God (Goddess), and could feel God’s deep love for me, and how It too grieved when it had to “cut” away parts of my life that I would rather keep. And for a moment, I experienced myself as a bouquet of flowers in the hands of God, with the Universe lovingly “preening” me and cutting away the unnecessary parts.

As my mind went further into this metaphor, I was flooded with deep sympathy for the flowers. I could really *relate* to them, and felt what it was like to give up a part of yourself that you did not want to. I suddenly realized that the Universe was using the flowers to communicate a deeper truth to me (or perhaps it was the flowers themselves that were the conveyors of this wisdom).

In that moment, I began to wonder if having my friend suddenly “cut” from my life wasn’t somehow necessary for my own spiritual growth & well-being. At this point in time, it’s hard for me to fathom why this would be true, as I still grieve the loss of my friend everyday. Part of me does not want to believe that something that has caused me so much grief and heartache might actually be necessary for my spiritual expansion.

And yet….in that moment, as I was cutting the stems from those perfectly beautiful flowers, I was able to view my life with a sense of momentary detachment. And for the first time ever, I could really feel that something wonderful might be coming out of this terribly painful experience.

Of course, intellectually, I already “knew” that something wonderful comes out of every pain & every challenge. However, knowing this in the mind is different than knowing it in the heart. The mind can “know” something intellectually, but until the heart engages in the “knowing”, the idea is nothing more than an abstract that cannot be applied to one’s life.

In that moment that I was trimming the stems on those flowers, I moved from “knowing” about the potential gifts of this situation only in my mind to actually “knowing” and feeling them in my heart. For the first time, I could truly see the possibility of something good coming out of the anguish.

One of the “gifts” that I can see coming out of this already is that it has launched me onto a path of radical self care & love. I don’t push myself as hard as I used to anymore, because, quite frankly, I can’t. Since I’ve been going through the grieving process, I just haven’t had as much energy as I used to. I have to slow down and “take it easy” more often. Between grieving and taking care of myself and just living life, I don’t have a lot of extra energy left to “push” myself or criticize or condemn myself.

I spend a lot more time now on self-nurturing, simply because I have to. I have learned that if you don’t nurture yourself when you are grieving, then you just fall to pieces. A traumatized spirit must be rebuilt through lots & lots of tender, loving care. So I make sure to care for myself, and provide myself with activities that are fun and uplifting or spiritually soothing.

One of the things that has helped me the most is doing Zumba (a kind of Latin-Cardio dance workout that incorporates moves from all around the world). This has helped my body to get in optimal shape (even if my heart feels so bent-out-of-shape) and it has also lifted my mood tremendously. It’s IMPOSSIBLE to feel depressed when you are panting & sweating in a room full of women while swinging your butt & your hips to the beat of Latin hip hop.

Another thing that I’ve done to help myself heal is enroll in a “Healing Heart” teleclass with Dr. Lisa Love. Lisa is a very compassionate and gifted therapist. Her “Healing Heart” class is all about getting through heartache & grief gracefully and coming out to the gifts on the other side.

The most important thing of all that I’ve learned from Lisa about grief & healing a broken heart is that “it takes as long as it takes”. This has been a great gift to me, as for several weeks, I kept getting frustrated at myself for my own inability to “just get over it”. Now I understand that when a person is hurt this deeply, you can’t just get over it, particularly when a relationship ends suddenly, and you aren’t able to make any sense out of why the person doesn’t want to communicate with you anymore.

So I’m learning to be patient with myself, and to give myself all the space and time that I need to heal…whether that is weeks, months, or even years. However long it takes is however long it takes.

In order to help my healing process proceed more smoothly & “neatly”, I’ve also started taking some specially designed flower essence formulas to work on my etheric body. The essences I am taking were created by Elizabeth Patric (along with the help of many Ascended Masters, elementals, galactic spirits, and the spirits of the flowers themselves).

I take four essences twice a day: Distancing from Drama, Stairway to Heaven, Milky Way, and Divine Order. These four essences combine together to form a kind of synergetic energy-boon for me. The “Stairway to Heaven” and “Milky Way” essences help me to access my light body and higher divine nature, and the “Divine Order” helps me to move more easily in tune with the natural cycles so that I can expand less energy while still getting more done. And the “Distancing from Drama” formula…well, need I say more? I think its name says it all.

One of the greatest gifts that has come from all of this is that it has opened my heart more deeply and made me more compassionate & sensitive towards other people’s pain. A broken heart is an open heart. When you’re acutely aware of your own inner pain and suffering, it’s also easier for you to see other people’s inner pain & suffering, and to give them the compassion, support, and space they need to go through their healing.

What I have learned in the last few months is that we’re ALL grieving something. Not a single one among us is immune from death, loss, or grief. In fact, most of us experience some form of “death” or loss every day, even if it is only in the form of old cells dying and replacing themselves with new ones. Even on a cellular level, we grieve. It is part of the natural order of life, and nothing that we need to be afraid of.

In the realm of Eternity, there is only pure, vast, timeless and unlimited energy. But in this world we are living in, there is life and there is death; there is loss, and there is gain; there is growth, and there is decay. There is hope, and there is despair, and there is joy, and there is grief. You cannot have one without the other, for it is only in contrast that they define each other.

As we proceed into our higher spiritual evolution, we will leave the world of contrast behind. But for now, at least part of us is still here, in this 3 dimensional realm of contrast & time and space. And as we learn to embrace & integrate ALL parts of ourselves & our experiences (even those parts that we don’t “like”, such as grief or death), we come closer to living the Awakened Life.

For we are all beautiful bouquets of flowers in the arms of God, being “cut” and “preened” by the loving hands of the Universe, so that we may finally truly blossom & “bloom”.

It is wonderful growing in the Garden of Life with you! Please let me know if there is anything that I can do to help you blossom!