You Were Always the Garden

Nobody tells you that blooming is hard work.

Sometimes, the soil you're planted in is dry, so the conditions aren't ideal. That you looked around at everyone else, flourishing, and wondered why you were still just trying to survive the season.

But survival is a form of growth. And not every bloom looks the same.

Some people blossom loudly; you see them, and you know. Others grow quietly, underground, building roots so deep that when they finally rise, nothing can move them. Neither way is wrong. Both take courage.

You are allowed to grow at your own pace. You are allowed to need more time, more water, and more grace from others and from yourself.

The ground beneath you, however hard, has not stopped you. You are still here. Still reaching.

That is not nothing. That is everything.

Keep reaching. Even slowly. Even quietly. That is still growing.

-Oluwademilade from MANI