June 24, 2015: Bloom Where You are Planted

The phrase 'bloom where you are planted' keeps resonating with me. I'm not completely sure where the embedding began, but as of late, this catch phrase continually hits replay in my brain. I do feel like I am planted in a lot of different places these days.

Tonight I am in Omaha. And I'm at home. Just home (9:06 p.m.). But home nonetheless. Home means many different things to me. I confuse people with pictures of Denver on my blog and social media. I also confuse people with my spotty appearances and 'going quiet' for periods of time. The new norm.

"Did you move to Denver?" is a frequent question.

or "I haven't seen you in ages. Why have you dropped off the face of the earth?" is another.

Albeit the understandable confusion (apologies for past miscommunication and the inevitability of those in the future), I'm kind of everywhere these days. But the real answer is that most time is spent at 72nd and Center in Omaha, less time at my garden sanctuary in West Omaha, and even less time in my home-away-from-home in Denver.

The technical answer is that Garrett and I spend our weekends alternating time our respective children. What this logistically means is that every other weekend is with the Denver kids. All of my remaining days are in Omaha. The math on this, you ask? 6 days out of my monthly 30, including travel, are outside of Omaha.

Working the numbers back another layer (other than sleep and shuttling Omaha kid(s) in the rare occasions the youngest is home), most hours are spent at work. Central Omaha. Quite a change from 10 years-or-so-ago; pre-second marriage and pre-Think Whole Person Healthcare.

Understandably with social media and my favorite past time of blogging, people get confused on what I'm up to and where I reside. Quite frankly, I confuse myself sometimes. Thus my mantra of bloom where I am planted. I go where I need to be and then I just take it in stride and enjoy my surroundings.

Tonight as I enjoy a nightly rarity of sitting in my back yard while taking in the beauty of the blossoming vines crawling up trellises and blooming day lilies, I feel comfort. The memories of a stable home and a joy-filled existence give me comfort. I have always bloomed in my happy spot.

This backyard still fills with life even with the absence of little boy voices. Sounds abound in the form of wind blown branches, birds overhead, and buzzing insects. Home life is now more quiet than chaotic. The new chaos filling our days does not include summer play dates and backyard baseball.

Garrett and I are creatures of habit, prey to routine. Our collective routines have been turned upside down in the last two years due to many factors; work, kids, aging, marriage. Lots of change. Routines turned upside down. New surroundings bring new relationships and new opportunities.

We could resist. We could cave to follow what is perceived to bring happiness. But I am a believer that happiness is a choice. The where's and the what's in life aren't as important as the who's and the how's. Everyone needs to pave their own path and find their own bit of happy.

Omaha...Denver...long work days...coveted date nights...old friends...new people in our lives. And then those rare, but chance nights with our grown kids. Wonderful people and places exist around us when we choose to seek them out. Bloom where you are planted.