“From a withered tree, a flower blooms.”—Gautama Buddha

I slept in very late this morning. I don't think we got up until after 11:00AM and had brunch. I bought a papaya late last night on the way home from work.

The night before last we had flown all night long and then had to both teach for four hours in the evening—Yoon taught yoga and I taught ESL—and we never caught up on our sleep until this morning.

I tried to reproduce our breakfast from Kalani. We had papaya, apples, yogurt, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, cheese and spicy Italian sausage, gluten-free raisin cinnamon bread with peanut butter and jam, fresh juice and coffee.

While we ate, we listened to Hawaiian music.

Everything inside the house seemed vibrant and full of life. The plant in my office is practically taking over the room, all of our succulents are thriving and several of our Thanksgiving/Christmas cacti are starting to bloom. I feel like the enegy of the Hawaiian Islands is pulsating right inside my house. I'm sure we brought a piece of it with us. I sure feel like that.

From my office window, a huge Japanese maple, which is fiery orange with its remaining leaves, has now let many of them go. They have created a few colorful carpet over our grass in the backyard.

Withering.

Blooming.

The cycle of life.

I feel like I'm ready to let go of the old and make way for a very new direction in my life. I've felt like this for a long time, but now I feel there is no going back. I WILL slowly shed my old skin. I will move fully into who I am and I will blossom.

Have you witnessed any withering or blooming in your life lately?