Waiting for the Orchid to Blossom

Surprising Lessons Learned From Watching A Small Plant Bloom

Purple is my favorite color. I am drawn to all things purple, including the beautiful flowering orchid plant in my home. I recall feeling sad when the first petals of my beautiful orchid started to wither and die a couple of months ago. My initial thought was “oh well, I suppose we’ll see you bloom again next year” (and yes, plants are like pets…it helps to speak love into them ). Soon, the little leaves and stems were left bare.

After my little orchid died, life happened. Weeks passed and other than an occasional glance at the beautiful lavender ceramic pot, I didn’t think much about the now dried-up soil that used to give nutrients to my little purple flowered plant. While life was happening, I personally experienced a health setback. For the past 20 years, I have lived with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). There, I said it. Although I speak of my triumph on my business website, and how I quickly healed after experiencing paralysis on the left side of my body at the young age of 24 (a traumatic experience for a trained dancer and former NFL Cheerleader Captain); I do not talk about my condition very often. I do not believe MS defines me.

For the past twenty years, my hope has been to continue serving as a walking triumphant example of the power God gives us all in this wide universe to heal ourselves by His grace. However, three weeks ago, I could not get out of bed by myself. I literally was wiped out and it took an incredible amount of energy to simply sit up on my own. My speech was slurred, and I could not lift a finger or toe on the left side of my body. To my dismay, familiar feelings from twenty years ago returned. There it was, alas a dreaded MS Exacerbation.

Several days laying immobile in the bed will truly give one time to ponder what led up to this manifestation in the body. I realized that I had possibly absorbed energies from other people that were not in alignment with my vibration. As a unique thinker, I understand and respect that the analogies described within this article may not necessarily resonate with everyone. However, as I’ve heard so many times before, “the right people hear you differently”. We do not need to over-explain ourselves. I realized that I had been doing quite a bit of over-explaining and quite honestly over trying to people, please. In essence, seeking validation from others (most of whom were not vibrationally in alignment).

As a lifelong student of psychological and physiological wellness, I immediately began researching what I could do to quickly heal and mitigate further neurological damage. You see, this is twenty years in, and not my first rodeo experiencing paralysis. After a couple of weeks of following scientifically approved mind-body therapies and practices, including prayer and meditation, I began rapidly healing. My amazing neurologist said that he didn’t care to send me to physical therapy. His words were “you know what to do”. My doctoral studies in Mind-Body Medicine and passion to help others heal through movement modalities are truly my purpose. One of the most healing practices during those three weeks was watching my baby orchid bloom slowly but surely. What I had not noticed until I was immobile and humbly forced to sit still, is that two little buds had formed right before my eyes. According to www.gardeners.com, “most orchids bloom once a year, but if they are really happy, they may bloom more often”. Contrary to what 2020 has shown us, my little baby orchid has bloomed not once but TWICE in the last 6 months! Clearly, this flowering plant was happy, and that made ME happy! I discovered that through my stillness I too, was blooming. There was immense growth, healing, and discovery that took place simultaneously while the orchid was blooming. The parallels are not a coincidence, but a beautiful example of how things unfold exactly as they should and choosing happiness is the conduit.

Here I sit writing in a renewed and healing space – a miraculous three weeks since the orchid began blooming. Writing is cathartic for me, and as I write this article on the last day of 2020, I reflect on ALL that has transpired in the midst of a global pandemic, systemic racial injustice, generational trauma, political unrest, and so much more. I wonder whether we all need to learn from the beautiful, now fully bloomed orchid. Progress is happening and the world is turning on its axis. Progress is happening more slowly than we’d like, but progress is still happening.

May we all be encouraged with renewed health, peace, prosperity, and love, as we enter 2021.

Amen. Ashé. Namasté.

“Many eyes go through the meadow, but few see the flowers in it.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Photo Credit: Leneé Cook-Braxton (personal collection)