This week, we witnessed a mysterious off-season bloom on one of Landon’s amaryllis. He placed it in full sun in the center of the table on our back patio, a blooming tabernacle, and each time I passed by en route to the garage, I was arrested by its trumpeting shock of red petal.
You see, I’ve been feeling out of sync, too. I’ve been lost somewhere between the feverish productivity of my book-writing and the everyday press of motherhood and family. My usual routines have all but disappeared; I’m been drifting between the shift key and the night shift of putting tired little sun-warmed bodies into bed. Even that ritual has been upended: my children are going to bed later than ever, with dirt beneath their nails and unwashed locks. My daughter has on multiple occasions yawningly asked to skip our nightly reads in favor of sleep. I am writing differently, in longer stroke, with more lamination.
I am trying to see that sometimes we are blooming in off-season. Maybe we aren’t comfortable with the sudden surge; maybe we can’t understand that what feels chaotic is in fact change, and good change. I keep thinking of the phrase: “which would you rather: the pain of growth or the pain of being stuck?”
Maybe after all I’m in a leveling up. Maybe I’m headlong in a well of creativity I’ll one day long for. Maybe I, too, am the amaryllis unfolding on its own timetable, unaware of its blazoning bloom.
Post-Scripts.
*In the midst of writing this, I chatted with several Magpies and friends whose amaryllis had also bloomed off-season. I think it has to do with accidental exposure to sun/warmth!
+Things take how long they take.
+The way life makes up for our own losses.
+Places that turn into people.
Shopping Break.
+Meant to include these sell-out-instantly pants in my work edit yesterday. People are OBSESSED. Ordered to try! I love that they have a short inseam available! (Reminder that this top from the same brand is a Magpie reader starter pack item — we all own it and love it!)
+Ahem, a truly perfect transition-to-fall heel. I can’t get over it. Simple, elegant lines in the perfect brown suede. I’m imagining pairing it now with white eyelet and later with leather and fair isle. I’ve actually begun “pinning” items for pre-fall here. Once an anticipator, always an anticipator!
+If you’re still in summer shoe mode, Loeffler Randall (Queen of the Cool Girl Sandal) let me know they’d be launching a sale today…!
+A great buy: these linen shells. $29 in select colors!
+The Nordstrom sale opens up to most of us today — all my top picks here, including the best designer jeans, prestige skincare, and ultra-comfortable (and fun) sneakers.
+Sneaky wardrobe workhorse: a striped tank. Adds such interest to a pair of jean shorts or white gauze pants. I have this one from Sezane but think I am going to order this.
+Really loving Rails these days; how fab are these pants?
+LSF inspired — and made in its same factory! But $128.
+Saks discounted a bunch of fabulous pieces, including this Zimmermann and this Eli Tahari.
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