Late Bloomers Still Rise
*NOTE: This essay first appeared in my monthly newsletter, August 2022. You can read it in its original form here. And if you’d like to have my newsletter delivered straight to your inbox, you can subscribe here. I promise to be an ideal guest at your email party: I arrive on time, leave before things get weird, and never show up uninvited.
“The psyches and souls of women also have their own cycles and seasons of doing and solitude, running and staying, being involved and being removed, questions and resting, creating and incubating, being in the world and returning to the soul-place.”
Dog days of summer.
warm water
grass, fresh cut
berries and cherries and peaches and squash
every evening, a slow burn
every morning, new flowers
It's the most wonderful time of the year.
(To all you autumn lovers: let's agree to disagree.)
Still, you and I are not evergreen.
We have seasons of our own.
It might not be your time to bloom.
It’s okay if you are not ready to peek your head out from wherever you go to rest and regenerate.
(Hibernation is a way for animals such as us to survive our cold, dark winters.)
You are allowed to take your time,
although this may worry you—
you might look around, compare your progress to someone else's, fixate on the differences.
But:
If you are following someone else's timeline, you are living someone else's life.
Your summer will come when you are ready
—not a day too early or too late—
and here is how you can hasten its arrival:
throw the timeline away.
Your days are better spent being lived than being planned.
Again, I promise, your summer will come when you are ready.
It will feel like a rumble of ground beneath your feet,
or a saltwater wave cresting in your chest,
or a song scrambling up and out your throat.
However it comes, your summer,
it will be a push, a pull, a burst.
And you will not doubt your hands as they fight through the dirt.
And you will not question your lungs as they expand with new air.
And you will not fear the light as it shines down on your rare face.
And you will not look around to compare your progress to anyone else’s
because you’ll be too busy
blooming.
Late bloomers still rise.
Whether you find yourself unfolding petals or planting seeds this season, take all the time you need.
You only happen once. Don't rush your rarity for anyone else.
Love,
Jamie
That Summer Feeling: Some Goodies
Rose in the Dark
How the practice of letting go set me free.
Blood Orange
A psychedelic fever dream for a sultry summer.
Beach Reads
From intergenerational family sagas, to poignant memoirs, to surreal adventures, these unique summer beach reads will hold your attention even if you’re a couple cocktails deep, poolside.
Classic Orange Sherbet
An easy-to-make, nostalgic celebration of “that summer feeling” of childhood.
Cucumber Soba Noodles with Ginger-Sesame Sauce
A fresh and quick dinner, served chilled--perfect for hot summer nights.
