In the early evening a solitary Noisy Miner bird enjoyed the nectar willingly served up by the brilliant new bloom. This marvellous bird of paradise flower is the focal point at the end of my garden. The bird, a resolute creature, came each day, working with diligence and persistence to extract every essence from that single flower and enjoy the fruits of his labour.
I appreciate my garden and smiled as I wandered by this wonderful display of nature at work. My own enjoyment was short lived however, as I later noticed that in his somewhat over zealous activity he had pecked the centre right out of the flower... there it lay wilting on the ground!
It had bloomed brightly and early bursting with youthful pride and served as an exciting vibrancy of colour against the grey February skies of that last few days. Oh well, I mused, c'est la vie, just the cycle of life.
Imagine my surprise when two days later I noticed that the centre of the same flower had re-grown, a new and proud burst of life! Sure enough the bird returned and within a day the centre fell yet again. I was amazed at this and even more-so when it again was decimated re-grew a third time!
Well now things were getting interesting, I wondered what would happen next? I know something about the resilience of people but I had never been so focused on the resilience of a single flower. Amazing stuff happening right under my nose, which up until now I had overlooked!
A double bird of paradise flower is not some new phenomenon unique to my garden. However, it may as well have been, given it had escaped my notice. For me it was a new and exciting discovery. I have never witnessed anything first hand that quite so obviously exudes the wonders of nature! A true and natural example of resilience, natural magic easily overlooked on an average day.
It seems to me that both bird and plant played the game. What initially appeared to be disaster for one ultimately provided a win for both. Each persisted with their natural instincts to grow, to endure, to be resilient and to find mutual benefit in the process.
There is no natural growth without sacrifice, no bloom without first weathering the seasons and the natural external elements. However, growth is dependent on the health of the specimen, the natural ability to grow with and from experience, and the resilience to keep blooming after storms and strife.
It is on the greyest of days that my double orange flower in its pot at the end of my garden fully displays its colour. In the overcast hue the orange, in direct contrast to the background, is more obvious, more intense, more easily noticed and appreciated. Whereas on other brighter days it may be lost amongst the blue of the sky and the myriad of garden colours competing for an appreciative eye.
Like life itself, when days are grey we have an opportunity to either overlook or to notice the beauty in things and people that otherwise elude us.
On grey days, lift your head a little and appreciate what you see anew. As if by magic your emotional resilience will rise within you and your ability to reason and respond will come to the fore.
Grey days then become an opportunity to mine the magic that may be in range of sight yet not apparent to our mindset. Uncovering these gems allows us to fully display our own full colours, magically influencing others and leading them into a brighter day.
Until next time, keep blooming!
Noelene Dawes
