Let go and bloom!

This is a photo of a hedge at the edge of my property. For years, I kept it trimmed into a neat, square row—tidy, predictable, nice but a little dull. Each winter, it gave a quiet show of pretty red berries, but I never gave it the chance to be anything more. I shaped it to fit a mold I thought was best.

This year, there was a late rain. Life got busy. I didn’t get around to trimming it. And then something beautiful happened.

The hedge bloomed.

It exploded into sprays of tiny white flowers, bursting with life, joy, and surprise. No longer trimmed for perfection, the branches stretched out in all directions, finally free to grow the way they wanted to. It had finally become what it was meant to be—not because of me, but in spite of me.

It made me think about people—how often we do this to ourselves and to each other. We trim ourselves down to fit what’s expected. We square off our edges to appear neat, agreeable, "normal." It starts early. Maybe with our parents, a teacher, or the world that tells us what’s acceptable. We shrink to stay safe. We adapt to please. We forget we were ever wild, ever blooming.

As adults, we fall into roles. We silence parts of ourselves. We convince ourselves that being small is being strong. We prize control and call it discipline. But maybe we’re just hedging in our own growth.

That unruly hedge—now spilling with flowers—is a reminder: the real beauty shows up when we let go. When we allow space for the unexpected. When we let ourselves grow without trimming back what doesn’t "fit."

You can’t bloom if you’re boxed in. You can’t come alive if you’re always playing it safe.

There is something in each of us—messy, radiant, wholly original—that deserves sunlight and space. When we let that part out, when we stop clipping it back, we get closer to our true selves. And it turns out, our true selves are breathtaking.

So here’s to growing wild.
Here’s to letting go.
Here’s to blooming.