While I don’t grow pansies myself, I enjoy them whenever and wherever I see them. Such pretty smiling faces almost seem to rise up to say hello. They symbolize the earliest hope of spring, standing solidly against late snows and cutting winds, and absolutely laughing off rain. On the day I caught these beauties at the nursery, some rare sort of planetary alignment was knocking all of us for a loop (scheduled to last through tomorrow, I believe) and I leave into my daily meditation a little more, reminding myself to be mindful and present in the moment so as not to overthink things.
So many lessons can be learned from the plant kingdom, and gardening has taught me many things over the years. How to be patient, how to nurture, how to prevent death, how to accept death, how to appreciate life – all the major lessons in being a good human being can be culled from the garden. I see that whenever I find a pansy’s happy face in the spring.
