To each his own…
We are nearing the end of the year 2022 and have seen the usual life cycles of plants and trees. Spring brings a revival of things left dormant from Winter. Summer continues with flowers of every vivid color imaginable leading to the Fall season where the colors once again change from bright and bold to dull and dying. Most all plants, trees, and flowers share that same path of life each year. It is expected, even predictable.
I always like it, though, when nature throws a curveball…gives us something out of the ordinary, something we didn’t see coming. The Christmas cactus is just that. Again, here we are at the time when most flowering plants have died. Leaves have fallen from trees and have been left bare and unappealing to the eye. Then here comes the Christmas cactus, marching to the beat of its own drum, deciding that right here in the middle of December would be the perfect time to come to life, to bloom, to brighten the otherwise dismal season.
I must admit that I have taken quite a liking to these plants. Even throughout the rest of the year, their long, green arms are a sight to behold. Vibrant tendrils flow over the pot, seemingly taunting the other plants and flowers as if to say, “You think I’m cute now? Just wait until I decide to show you who I am”. And then BAM! December rolls around and their tips begin to bud, decorating those long arms with the most colorful blooms.
I am impressed with this cactus’s confidence, its self-awareness, and cannot help but relate it to my own life. Just because everyone else has bloomed at a certain season, or has matured at a particular moment in time does not mean that I must also follow that pattern. I do not have to fit that mold. I, too, can break out of that shell and become something new, something beautiful in my own right. Whether that’s learning a new craft, trying something I’ve never tried before, or delving deeper into a hobby I’ve only dabbled into, I have no time restraint. I have no reason to think today cannot be the day I make crazy awesome changes in my life, and why not? The Christmas cactus doesn’t care that it stands alone in its evolvement, so why should I?
