where I live

I live in Arizona. The ground outside is part granite and that's how I justify the fact that I have never cultivated a garden. I know other people here have gardens. But somehow this excuse satisfies the pull inside, nagging about the benefits of my own vegetable and herb garden. Sort of.

So ya, I live in Arizona. And during the summer, let me tell you it is boiling outside. Everyone is running around in bathing suits or at least shorts and tank tops. My legs have spider veins and that's partly how I justify the fact that I never wear shorts and shy away from swimming with my kids. That excuse satisfied the pull inside, nagging about how self consumed I have become. Sort of.

Then I read this in the past year and it as so very good.

So I'm trying something new. I'm trying to bloom where I'm planted. I'm trying to give up the excuses of circumstance that I use to justify why I don't live like I believe I should. I'm trying to look at this Arizona desert as fertile ground, because it is. In it's own way.

And so, I've determined this summer to look at my spider veins as an opportunity instead of an excuse. I've been running around exercising in the early morning in my shorts, looking at these decorative beauties
and choosing to marvel at the mystery of the human body. Veins and arteries carrying blood away and towards my heart without a single effort of any conscious thought. Each moment my body properly functions in this capacity is an absolute miracle. It's takes my breath away how often I have taken for granted these beautiful creations of transport.

So one step at a time, I'm reprogramming that running narrative inside my mind. This is fertile ground where I've been planted. I will not be afraid to bloom and grow.