Hello, dear friend. How’s life? Already wishing it’s Friday? Me too. (Music helps.) There’s a semi-empty Mike’s Hard Lemonade sitting next to me and a beautiful green face mask cracking on my face. Dinner was breakfast, and pajamas are already on. (Are you all in similar scenarios right now? I knew it. Kindred spirits.)

It’s so nice out, friends. I’m sitting at the kitchen table with the window open and I should be working. Technically, I suppose you could say I am. I was attending a webinar on creating a solid brand just now and I’ve got a stack of notes to show for it (I do love creating a business from the ground up again. :)) It’s still so exciting for me, friends, and I can’t wait to see what our life looks like in a year. The wind is blowing the curtains over my screen – it’s like it’s calling me to go outside and write, maybe take a book or magazine, and just be. Our peonies are now blooming, they look quite amazing. I thought we wouldn’t get many buds this year but apparently we’re doing something right because we’ve got over 10 buds and new ones seem to keep appearing every day! (Heart skips a beat each time I see them.) The strawberries are ripe and ready to be plucked – I try to share them with Paul when I get to them first, but I just have to accept that I fail at being a friend sometimes. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. :)

Our vegetable garden is beyond lovely (that’s me way down below inside the garden :)). I still can’t believe we have it up and ready and tilled and full of plants. The veggies aren’t big at all, but the chives have just enough to pluck off and the basil is always ready to be picked and chopped. Our niece and nephew were over this past weekend and we had such a good time going through the garden and eating different plants, deciding which one would be our favorite (chives for all of us), and then using it when cooking dinner. (Fresh chives on mashed potatoes is a delicacy.)

Our lilacs are in full bloom – what is better than the smell of lilacs outside your window? Nothing, absolutely nothing. We open the door to let Rusty out and the lilacs seep into our house, dancing around making everything smell like spring. If we ever move I think our entire house will need to be lined with lilacs.

You know, there really is something to gardening as therapy. I don’t know about you, but after a long day at work or on a day when I’m feeling particularly overly anxious (which happens more often than not), pulling up a bit of weeds and letting my hands and fingernails get full of dirt and mud really makes everything better. Would you believe me if I said I talk to my plants? Oh yes, we have conversations and I don’t feel weird one bit. (You shouldn’t either. Go ahead, you can admit it to me.) Clearly I’m not expert in the field of gardening (I consider my dear mother as one) but I don’t think that matters. As long as I’m out there, day after day, tending to them, caring for them, excited to watch them grow, and learning lessons along the way, I’d say I’m a successful gardener. Not an expert, just successful. Too often I’ve felt that my garden or home needs to look perfect in photos or when people come to visit.  Look at those weeds and dust bunnies! Why didn’t Paul mow the lawn earlier?? I wish the roses were blooming! How silly is that?! It doesn’t matter to me if my vegetables aren’t perfectly spaced apart, or that I accidentally pulled up last year’s strawberry plant because I thought it was a weed, or that I killed my first roses because I tried to transplant them and cut its root in half. Or that there’s waaaay too much excess grass in my garden and I’ve grown tired of keeping it at bay. Why should it matter to others?

Isn’t that a great way to think?? As long as we love doing something, who cares if we make mistakes?? Why do we care what other people think as long as we’re having fun? Why do we think it’s a fault to mess up before we learn and grow? And why oh why do we always feel the need to be perfect in anything we do??? (These questions are directed at me as much as they are you, dear friend.)

I’ve switched to coffee and I put my slippers on. My face mask should definitely come off (here comes the itchiness followed by the oh so smooth baby face (mixed in with an unfortunate bit of acne – adult acne? Who knew?!)) and then ya know what? I’m going to whip open that door, breathe in the intoxicating scent of lilacs, strut out to that over-bearing grass garden, and smile with pride. We grew it, we’re taking care of it, we’re giving it love, and it’s all ours.

Whatever thing you’re working on friends, whether it be a project at work, a new hobby, or a budding business and passion, block out those negative voices in your head. Notice your smile, feel the butterflies, and embrace those mistakes. Because mistakes mean you grow, and growing is a heck of a lot better than doing nothing at all. (Off to the garden we go!)