My friend’s Dad (the inimitable Kent Osborne) has this great saying: ‘Bloom where you’re planted’ meaning, wherever you find yourself, grow there. Bloom there. Share your beauty and perfume, express yourself there. Don’t wait till you’re elsewhere and think elsewhere is more worthy of your energy or time or brilliance.
I think it’s good advice (especially since we can’t go anywhere anyway right now). But really, so often we think we’ll get it together sometime in the future and that’s when we’ll really hit our stride, show ‘em what we’re made of, or something like that. We don’t bloom where we’re planted because we feel that we’re not ready somehow.
When I think about this, I’m reminded of what they call in Kashmir Shaivism, the Pancha Kanchukas - this sense of ourselves as limited by Space, Time, Knowledge, Ability, Desires… We think of ourselves as needing something more in this moment before we can really be all we are capable of. According to the yogis, this is false. We already have all we need. We are already whole and complete, just as we are. But, alas, the Pancha Kanchukas. Due to their influence we mistakenly think that we’ve got to get something more, do something more, have something more, know something more… And so we run around, like chickens with our heads cut off, trying to find what’s missing. For me, that missing thing is always knowledge. I always feel like I need to know something more to be worthy to share. So I do lots of courses and reading. Trying to get the knowledge.
For other people it might look different. They might feel they need more wealth, more possessions (also me), more prestige, more time, a new location. But what if we just went ahead and bloomed right now, where we’ve found ourselves? What would it take for us to do that? Perhaps a sense of surrender? Would that allow us to stop the frantic search out there, or the wishing things were different or waiting for the conditions to be perfect and just make Peace with the here and now?
Or perhaps it’s humility. This understanding that we’re imperfect, and that’s perfect. We don’t have to hide our perceived imperfections. We are worthy right now, just as we are.
As Mooji says:
“I am not telling you, you are good enough. I am telling you, you are complete and perfect before even the birth of time.”
That being so, what is stopping you from expressing yourself authentically? From sharing what you’ve got? From being all that you are?