Chiang Mai, Thailand. 2018. 

“Life is a journey, not a destination. There are no mistakes, just chances we’ve taken. Lay down your regrets, cause all we have is now. Wake up in the morning, and get out of bed. Start making a mental list in my head of all of the things that I am grateful for…Early in the morning, it’s the dawn of a new day. New hopes, new dreams, new ways. I open up my eyes and I open up my mind and I wonder how life will surprise me today.” -India Arie

The Chiang Mai Flower Festival is hosted every year during the first weekend of February, displaying colorful chrysanthemums, damask roses, and so much more. Just near the city center, the streets are filled with vendors of plants, flowers, orchids and garden decorations. Overall, the city is beautiful, and has the rich vibe that speaks to my soul. The flowers that fill the streets is life’s way of reminding me to laugh, smile, and keep things simple.

Nature in general, always finds a way to gently tap me on the shoulder and whisper how magical it is to carry on organically. In translation, I typically hear a drawn out whimsical tone, with the following words recited, “Just be yourself.” Whenever I hear that, a weight is lifted, and there becomes less pressure in understanding the particular reason of why I’m here. Just a soul aware of the possibility in having a spiritually satisfying human experience. The idea is to gracefully learn from all that enters and exits my life, and see how those things contribute to my wild growth. For that reason, I’m grateful for the variations of my surroundings. With each clarifying day, I’m inspired to remove anything that I  consider “clutter,” by focusing on what is essential to my growth.

“She is like a wildflower, beautiful, fierce and free.”

Often enough, there’s so much that distracts us from keeping life simple, and I find the presence of flowers to be one of many stimulating experiences that gracefully gestures organic beauty.

The next time you stop to smell the roses (when you look at yourself in the mirror), remember:

“Wherever life plants you, bloom with grace.”

“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.”

“Happiness blooms from within.”

“She sprouted love like flowers, grew a garden in her mind, and even on the darkest days, from her smile the sun still shined.”

“Like wildflowers, you must allow yourself to grow in all the places people thought you never would.”

“A flower does not think of competing with the flower next to it, it just blooms.”

“You are not your roots, you are a flower grown from them.”

“May the flowers remind us why the rain was so necessary.”

“Like flowers, we can also choose to bloom.”

“The earth laughs in flowers.”

“Advice from a sunflower: ‘Be bright, sunny and positive. Spread seeds of happiness. Rise, shine, and hold your head high.”

“Live wild, flower child.”

… and most importantly, “Bloom baby, bloom!”

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