The Life of a Daffodil

Have you ever thought of what it’s like to be a daffodil?

When I am outside looking at my friends from the plant kingdom, I often wonder at their remarkable abilities.  While many tend to think of plants as just ‘being there’, if we tune in to their remarkable lives, we can learn a lot.

When I bury my daffodils bulbs in the fall, and pat the earth above their heads, I wish them well on the path they are on. While they might not be moving from that spot, they have an amazing journey ahead. Waiting out the cold and snow of winter, they patiently somehow know that waiting is perfect at this time. They know that there is a time to be still and rest and to wait. Not many of us can embrace that feeling.

Then, somehow, magically, they know when the time is right for movement and growth. Is it the water from the rain and the melted snow? Is it the gently warming earth from the longer days of sunlight? Is it the singing of the birds who are welcoming spring? I don’t know. What I do know is that somehow, like clockwork, all the daffodils begin their work underground to create their fragile yet strong green tendrils of life that reach up to the sun. They burrow through that frozen ground, around stones and rock, and maybe even arriving to find some layer of melting snow. Yet, they keep going. They keep moving forward with their goal.

As they arrive above ground, they grow up into the air by leaps and bounds. And one day, before you know it, they are showing off their beautiful headdress of sunny yellow petals. They sway in the wind and the rain and continue their dance in the sun. Even when the time of blossoming is over, they are busy, beneath the soil, creating and strengthening bulbs for the next year.

What can I learn from the little daffodil? I learn that there is a time for stillness, and then a time to push with all your might to move forward. When you have reached your goal, take your time to dance and play and enjoy. And then focus on what the next goal is, strengthen, grow and learn, and be ready to rest again.

May this season bring the energy of lush forward movement into your life and be filled with the abundance and prosperity that you desire!