Legacy of Love

On the way back from Lowe’s today, I listened with glee as my second daughter told me that this was HER plant and SHE rescued it.  She was so emphatic about the ownership, pride emanating from her big grin. When we got home she ran into her bathroom, where she was going to keep it and watered it.  My husband, rolling his eyes due to the crazy amount of plants already existing in our home, strained to see the value of another dollar spent on a plant. However, my heart soared, seeing my passion alive and lighting up my daughter’s face!

I have had a fascinating span of reading this week that took me from pioneers to penthouse apartments in New York. The ironic theme seemed to be survival. The alarming issue was more the prioritizing of what made you a survivor. I suppose it isn’t necessarily fair to put them in the same category with hundreds of years separating the eras for which they were written. However, one was primarily based on money and getting something for an insane price, the other was based on starting a new life based on adventure and experience out of necessity. Alarmingly enough, the arrival of their success or at their destination wasn’t the end. Most people were dissatisfied and still faced the need to obtain something more or deal with other issues. Some were content to just exist in less than satisfactory situations as to not interrupt their new life style or status. Are we really making a living off of this stuff?

In the New York books, artists, writers and actors were shown in an excessive light of constantly being dissatisfied after having gained TOO much. Most of the things that we strive for as regular people would not even be considered good enough for them by their standards. I find it so overly sensationalized that my own desire to go and visit and view New York has significantly been jaded. Having been born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, I find myself reminded that most of us that have been born and raised out here for several generations are the descendants of pioneers, frontiersmen and the lawless. What I found significant in this was the distinct difference in what is important to me versus what is important to those struggling to maintain their lifestyle in the big Apple.

Hope springs eternal in the mind of the romantic. Where do I fit? I ask. Because of my passion for gardening, my home and taking care of my family and friends, I feel as though it is my legacy to leave a romantic's version of life and of love, encouraging people to live their passions. There is no finish line, no arrival point, only living with one hundred percent of what your abilities and ideas are. I have been constantly amazed by the fact that even though the lifestyles differ so much, no one seems to have gained anything different or better than anyone else.  They still face life and lack and desires. I know as families we get caught up in the money dance, thinking we’ll make some, work hard for a few years and then live or have fun or enjoy the kids. Truth of the matter is, we only have one shot at this. We are shaping our future and what we leave behind RIGHT NOW. Money does make the world go around, but this is it.

I thought, working my way up through the medical clinic, that I was building my success. Five years into giving it completely up to be a stay at home mom, the world has another message for me. My experience in the medical from five years ago doesn’t mean anything to anyone right now. It doesn’t better qualify me to get a job.  We get so wrapped up in what we think success and wealth look like. This morning, I saw what it looks like. It looks like love.  It looks like a passion that transforms one ordinary day into the best ever, just in doing what you love.