Dormant Dreams.

What can wild plants teach us?

Weeds and wildflowers are not defined by the confines of the city; even when restricted, they find opportunities to grow. Through the tiniest of cracks in the concrete, they find and claim a space to survive.

They cling to bridges, emerge unwanted in prohibited places, grow far from the ground up high on rooftops, sprout vertically on the sides of walls, reclaim land once used, on the edges, and on the margins; they germinate in abandoned places, and yet they too take centre stage.

There is such beauty in their survival.

Not only do these plants offer little moments of greenery for the city dweller, they also act as integral parts of the ecosystem. Their lives, though often overlooked, contribute to the network of life that sprawls under the concrete, hidden in the soil.

They’re also food for other wildlife, both indirectly sustaining life for us humans while also providing food for us directly—many weeds are edible and medicinal. They can be foraged if one knows how to identify them.

The wild plants also teach us about solace, stillness, and solitude amidst the chaos.

When life feels as though we are an overlooked weed braving the elements alone, we can learn from the wild plants and still bloom when discouraged. Dormant dreams beneath the surface during times of rest are nourishment for your roots. So, embrace your quietude. Honour your silent celebrations. 

Wildflowers are brave. From them, I am learning to ground myself in my metaphorical soil. If I reach out my roots to find the new spaces within, I can identify my inner freedom—and grow as I rest, grow as I bloom, continuing to learn how to take up space.

If we all keep shrinking, our foliage will die. Life’s gardens will be barren. The beauty of variety will transform into conformity. Life will cease.

So bloom, and bloom brightly. This way, you remind others that it’s safe to do so. A single plant does not make a garden—a collective of flowers and plants, trees, shrubbery, and weeds are all needed.

If I were a flower, perhaps today I’d sigh and say, “I am still here despite it all; I choose to live, and my blooming is my joy.”

May your dormant dreams sprout and your soul bloom. ⚘R.

What does nature’s creativity mean to you?

"My collaborative project, Clock Flower Wishes, is a celebration of wild plants. It asks us to really take note and observe the unobserved life of wild plants, to witness the unseen in the people we meet and know, and to honour the wild plants and the strangers we encounter as sacred, as well as the nature within and without." Join in here.