Wild Irish Rose

 

 

First of all, for those of you that don't know, what is a Wild Irish Rose? A Wild Irish Rose is a flower (big surprise.--Right??). A Wild Irish Rose, though small flowered and short in stature, is known for glowing an intense rosy orchid. Look at the picture that I posted slightly above this writing, don't you note how brilliant tangerine beards sparkle down the flower, much like dancing leprechauns. It is beautiful. You may have noticed the particularity of that beauty, or remain stuck in dreaming to have an as freely giving beauty such as that flower. Maybe...just maybe...

 

I think that we already all do have the beauty have that stunning Wild Irish Rose in us. How? You might as well ask. We all have our differences one from another, each vainly wishing in possibility to be as magnificent, fast, or smart as someone else. Stop. Those differences make us each beautiful. Whether it happens to be the size of our widely gazing eyes or the loud, obnoxious chime of our laugh (or maybe more appropriately, guffaw as I would verse my own). Don't hide yourself. Never. Those differences make us all wonderfully different from one another and it is very beautiful. Personally, the right side of my body doesn't work as well as the left side and though I hate it, I am trying to learn to accept it as just another part of my Wild Irish Rose (let's not get too carried away). I try to make myself better each month with a recent habit that I created of creating goals and then attempting to go forward and achieve them. You might of read something a little like this before...read on! I implore you, this one is different. It isn't just another rose...it might even be a little wild.

1) Reach out to a coworker you don't know well and chat with them. This has been especially hard as of recent occasion, seeing the quarantine that we each were in in my home state of Colorado, but now seeing that we are finally ebbing our way out of it (no I haven't been waiting for this day ever since it started...yes I have giving all my respect to the doctors and their advice, they do know more than me. I respect and know that...still following quarantine. I'd be lying if I didn't say that I liked it a little bit. (Life in a library, what book will I read next?) (You know it, Chris! Are you out there, reading this?)). Where was I? (I get caught in rants often, like I said, I'm a bit wild.) I will reach out to coworkers, seeing that I am quite the social butterfly. I plan to do this if the recent dog-care business that I started takes off, because you need to reach out to animals too if you wish to understand them. 

                                                                  

2) Stay offline one day per week. This isn't that day! This one has been a constant goal of mine, I guess. It is just one that has never lifted its wings and flew, seeing how many activities that I participate in online including my online schoolwork, social media, and oh...blogging! Hopefully posting these thoughts online (creating a small oxymoron, I guess) will add more of my own personal gumption in achieving this particular goal. I actually listened to a talk on this somewhat earlier this week called "We Can Do Better And Be Better" by President Russell M. Nelson in April 2019. The talk was specifically geared toward men and young men, advising them not to spend all their free time on the little or big gadgets of today that work as seemingly little distractions for us and giant tools of the Devil, since they really should be spending that time with their family. When I heard this, I thought of why that piece of beckoning doesn't apply to us all? I think we all need breaks from going dark places like the online (I'm not telling you to leave...yet) when we have a family, or friends that could use the time, actual time instead. It will be difficult but I am up to the challenge.

3) Try meal-prepping. This goal may not be the most Wild Irish Rose-like for me, seeing that I have always had a gumption for learning new recipes. One of my favorite shows is "Great British Baking Show." (I someday dream of making a "Great American Baking Show"...or is that perhaps already an idea taken a few times. Bring it.) The thing is though, after gathering recipes in my dream book, (everyone has one of those, right?) I find that I do not have all the ingredients in my cupboard (I hate spending money) or the time necessary. Don't go saying that I had all the time in the world during this quarantine, I already tried that convincing point (plus I had tons of...homework). Besides that, meal-prepping is defined as the concept of preparing whole meals or dishes ahead of schedule so I'm not all the way sure that my Mom's famous chocolate chip cookies would count. I tried to make a PB&J once; let's just say that it ended in horrid disaster. Want a rookie meal, anyone (no not cookie...although, let's talk)? Sounding Rosie.

4) Learn something new. This is one challenge that has always remained difficult for me and I don't know how to solve it. When I was young, I had this little book full of arts and crafts that my little 8-year-old (or was it 9?) mind wasn't afraid to step up to the plate to. That is how I learned how to knit with my friendly Knifty-Knitters to make it a little bit easier. I still knit some things today. In fact, I recently made a little pink hat for my niece, Paige, but I diverge. Yes, I was brave as a young child but as soon as I woke up from a car accident where they told me I received some brain damage, I have been a lot slower to try new things. I was taken out of my P.E. classes (I guess it wasn't ALL bad LOL), I couldn't participate as part of the cast in my school musicals like I did when I was young, and I couldn't make it on any sports team, so I didn't even try. Now, I'm not saying that those were all bad things necessarily, because the injuries I received from the car accident were horridly life-altering, and I didn't want to get hurt even worse. So I guess there is reason, but sometimes you have to be a Wild Irish Rose beaming at the sun in return and say enough is enough. I am participating in the Run across America this Saturday. It's a 5k in your neighborhood, wherever that may be. It is supporting essential workers and Feeding America. While run-walking isn't necessarily a new thing for me, this activity is a start to getting myself out there, whether it be new or not. Does that make sense?

 

5) Start a capsule wardrobe. I know what you are thinking when you read that last one--"What is a capsule wardrobe?" Let me tell you. Capsule wardrobe is a term made by Susie Faux, the owner of a London boutique called "Wardrobe" (I know, go figure) in the 1970's. To Faux, a capsule wardrobe is an assortment of a few essential items of clothing that don't go out of fashion, such as skirts, trousers, and coats. Capsule wardrobes can change according to season, but they help coin the term, "old but new" is my presumption. (Kind of like how you may have never heard of a Wild Irish Rose before reading this blog, but you had heard of the term of flowers.) Presently, I find myself trying to bring old things back into fashion (especially with what last month's goals were), but who knows, maybe after this month, I will become quite the seamstress with a punchline of more that "I know how to sew..." said nervously. (But like I said, who knows, it might happen, it might not.) I only dream of being as good a seamstress as my Grandmother Gardner.

There are my goals for the month of June. What do you think? Please share in the comments to this post (or on Facebook, Twitter, or wherever you may find it or are able to comment). What's your favorite book? Where can I watch the General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and at what time of the year? Would you like a a meal prepared by your truly? Do you have recommendations of new things I could try in the month of June, or maybe even further or earlier in the year? Do you have any new wardrobe, outfit, or sewing ideas for me? Maybe even one of your own questions. Seriously, I am up for anything...like a Wild Irish Rose on a fresh June day.