Nurturing New Dreams with Intentional Cultivation

Photo by Heather Wombacher ApprenticeArtStudio.com

Many of you garden and now is the time to begin planting and preparing the ground for beautiful blooms. Planting flower bulbs is a rewarding way to bring vibrant colors and natural beauty to your garden. Spring is the time to enjoy watching these beautiful flowers grow and flourish in your garden!

While all of this is true, this was not exactly what I wanted to discuss in this post…please read on.

I recently came across a post about an artist whose story sounded a bit like mine this winter. Let’s just say I could totally relate with her blog post. It had been a difficult year for her and she needed to make some changes. She created a visual reminder for herself. I loved this idea so much, that I had to make my own and add my creative flair to it. Thank you to Wandering Craft for this inspiring project and instructions. You can visit her blog post for the FREE how-to instructions HERE.

Here is my finished bulb of dreams!

The whimsey of a fabric bulb caught my eye at first, a fabric bulb! This just filled my naturalist’s cup. What I liked about this project was it slowed me down. This is a slow stitching project, yup needle, thread, and scraps of fabric. Perfect. Two pattern pieces, even better. However, as I read the blog further I was even more intrigued by its purpose. This wasn’t just a project to make something, this was a project that symbolized something deeper. I liked the idea of deep things being represented by something you plant deep in the ground in the waning fall and then wait faithfully for it to show itself in spring. This intention to plant something figuratively was inspiring, what a wonderful idea! This is what captivated my creative heart.

So I set to work. And as I slowed down and stitched, amid my creative process I began to ponder and dream and cultivate in the fallow places of my heart. This cold winter has made way for new things to blossom. I also attached bits of paper to the roots of the things I want to cultivate and nurture in my heart (in the original instructions these were hidden inside of the bulb itself). I loved how this turned out! I now have a visual to keep me going, to remind me of those dreams, and to work towards them.

Remember out of dark seasons comes the light. My dreams will someday blossom, and yours will too.