I Was The Little Seed That Could...

Recall this pretty papaya from my last post... I mean look at it! How rare of a sight, it has to metaphor something right? What could this germinating seed be trying to tell me? It took a while to make the connection, but when I did make sense of it, everything unfolded like a flower blooming 🌸- literally 😊.

First, a little about myself to give you a back story. The time I spoke in front of 1500 people at my largest event ever- a noteable 2015 Food Revolution cooking event with the entire Northview high school body with Mr.Jamie Oliver himself connecting in live...

You see presenting was one of my biggest fears 😬... All my life I shied away from speaking to any crowd if I could. At school, at work, I'd rehearse my lines over and over again, and I'll get super stressed out as presentation day nears. I was to kick-start this huge food event; even though I only had two paragraphs to sound off, I grew anxious as peeps trickled into the jam-packed cafeteria. It went without a hitch; it was that pivotal moment I knew I conquered my fear 🙂. I mean I was speaking in front of strangers- 1500 students, teachers, principals, VIP guests, the police and heck I was on live TV!! Our moment with Jamie was short and sweet. But OMG! I did it 🤗!!!

For all the event details, check out my Post.

Fast forward to the last two years... how blessed am I to have the opportunities to speak in front of crowds regularly, to let my passion for cooking, health & wellness and food education be my VoiCe! Because speaking from the heart is as authentic and un-rehearsed as you can get 😊. Times a-changed and the potential to grow and expand feels real and liberating. So finally back to the papaya... a couple days after new year I cut open the papaya to find this germinating seed. As a person who looks for meaning in everything, I pondered what this conveyed. I know I figured it out... it has to be... Bloom 🌸! 

Brings me back to the magazine Bloom- for women when I was Food Editor at the start of my food career 20 years ago. A reminder in #2020- I was the little seed that could! Nourished with love and passion for food, flourished and is still blooming. And if it can't get more symbolic... my birthdate is also a 20 😯❤. 2020 for a 20!

Grateful for moments experienced, lessons learnt, and the new opps that lay ahead. If we are not a little bit uncomfortable everyday, we're not growing. All the good stuff is outside our comfort zone. I see and hear acts of heroism, strength, courage and wisdom in women I encounter all the time! 

Let it be this year for us to shine and bloom together 🌸🌸!

Furthermore, somethings that never change. I said it then (at 30) and I say it again... 

Life is to be lived now. Live. Love. Learn. Be All You Can Be. Now. Not Later.

Every sunset is an opportunity to reset. 

"Each morning we are born again. 

What we do today is what matters most"-- Buddha

It really has been 360 for me- the seed that wants to help others suc-seed.

Truthfully, isn't that what we are all doing here, planting seeds? For our future? For the next generation?