Insignificance. A feeling that so often accompanies comparison. A feeling that is made up in our own heads. An emotion that feels like it has the final say, the ultimate power over hopes and dreams. Comparison acts as blinders, a tunnel vision that blocks you from seeing the real reason you are dreaming your dream or working for your goal. For me the feeling of insignificance has been sneaking in by measuring True Blue Flower Co. against other people’s businesses and dreams. It comes as quick thoughts and comparisons. “I don’t have the same capital, I don’t have the same connections, I don’t have the same resources.” Little thoughts that lead me off track from my individual goals towards someone else’s. Bigger, better, more getting in the way of centered, connected, and fulfilled.

Anemone americana, how easy it would be for this petite little flower to feel insignificant against blooms of hydrangeas and sunflowers. With if all of it’s energy was spent comparing it could never have developed the things that make it flourish in the April Minnesota woods. These purple and white flowers litter the forest floor on the first warm April days in a way that few flowers ever could. Tiny hairs cover the leaves and stems of the Liverwort protecting it from inevitable frost it will encounter along the way. Its blossoms close at night, protecting petals from the night time lows. Hardy leaves don’t go complacent during the winter either-they stay awake quietly taking advantage of they days they can still soak in a little sun. All of these little adaptions, these little investments anemone americana has made into itself do not go unappreciated. The very first sleepy bees and pollinators rely on Liverwort’s lifegiving nectar when little else is around. This sweet symbiosis serving these early bees almost guarantees Liverwort will be pollinated. Turning comparison into coexistence. The early spring flowers give way to the blooms of hydrangeas and sunflowers who support the bees until the Liverworts next spring go around.

So for this little flower, easily overlooked on the forest floor, I am forever grateful. An April reminder that comparison is the thief of joy. When we compare we lose the opportunity for relationships and our dreams drift away from our original intentions. Instead I need to invest in myself and be thankful for the opportunities brought along by coexisting with the ones I once compared myself to.

Minnesotawildflowers.com is a site I often use for identifying wildflowers I see on our many adventures. Its a nice digital field guide that lets me browse for plants by what different categories including colors or by what plants are blooming at different times.

Another incredible week at True Blue Flower Co. -also known as my laundry room office. The cool season flowers are hardening off in the greenhouse and warm season seedlings are taking their place under the grow lights. True insists on being a part of all of it as usual. My momma chicken only hatched one, sweet little baby so the 11 we hatched in the incubator went to join her. Mom and chicks are loving life. To top it all off, I celebrated my 27th birthday the best way I know how - Loon’s Nest breakfast in the morning followed by Spanky’s Jalapeño Margarita at night!