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Every spring season, I try to encourage my children to plant something to show them the patience required in growing any of substance. This year, my two youngest daughters planted Marigolds from seedlings. Today, instead of interviewing a person, the focus is on life lessons from the #Marigold plant.

Rumor has it that Marigolds got their name when robbers stole an elderly lady’s bag. When they opened it, they found “Mary’s gold.” This plant has been the most amazing addition to our garden, we have them in pots around our deck. It has done a fantastic job of keeping mosquitoes away from my children while they play. And some farmers use it as a natural pesticide by planting it between their rows of vegetables.

This simple plant has been associated with prosperity and good fortune. In the context of my daughters’ lives, it has taught them the power of nurturing a seedling daily with love and water. And like a burst of color, the Marigold finally opens and becomes a small #replica of the #sun. What a beautiful reminder to each of us to become gold through our hard work, persistence, and the joy of turning the sun’s rays into little #artifacts of art.

And now that the season is slowing turning, the #seeds are harvested and shared with friends and family to enjoy for themselves. The Marigold plant, a lesson in nature’s #gold that a wise woman originally carried around in her handbag, may we carry its love around in our hearts!  “The only lasting beauty is the beauty of the #heart” –Rumi.

5 For Sanity: 5-minute stories to reaffirm the notion that “We mature not by age, but by stories.” Please feel free to share — stories have their own kind of magic over the quality of our lives. HLBalcomb.com (Hermy Author, Facebook)

How is it humanly possible that my oldest daughter is in 5th grade this year? I remember dropping her off on the first day of #kindergarten and saying to my mom — “I hope she’s safe around those 5th graders. They’re huge in size compared to her smallness.” And now, she’s one of them. I’m still trying to figure out how #NOT to blink?!? Blessed to be on this journey, only wish it would #slowdown a bit in this chapter — selfishly, trying to enjoy my little #girl before she’s #gone! No one ever tells you that #motherhood by definition is the fine #art of knowing when to #hold on and when to #let go. Therefore, for this year…I’ll hold on a little more before she’s ready to be her own kind of #brave…so, until then, I’ll savor every moment and count every blessing! Crazy, beautiful motherhood!  #doublerainbow #blessing

For me, traveling is one of the best excuses to breakaway from our daily routines. The kind of routines that maintains life, yet do they always adequately fuel our hearts?

On my walk back to my house, I see John. He is a local in my neighborhood. At the same time, he is a world-traveler. After a lifetime of working hard, traveling is his reward for a life well-lived.

Best of all, he travels with his beloved wife of 40-years. He speaks of her like they’re newly weds…his face becomes alive — giddy with sincerity as he jokes that their marriage has lasted this long because his wife is somewhat hard of hearing — “she misses out on all the stupid things I often say!” he remarks.

And then, the conversation turns to the heart of our meeting, “You know,” he says, “people always tell you about how wonderful it is to travel, yet they forget to mention the goodbyes. They #never get easy!”

I nod in agreement while John continues speaking, “The only thing that makes traveling worthwhile are the new #hellos waiting after the #last #goodbyes.” He smiles at the end of his statement to reaffirm the strength of his words.

“The #balance of life…”I remark.

“Yes,” he answers, “The hellos make it all worthwhile!”

Author Mary Anne Radmacher summarizes the ebb-and-flow of travel, the endless hellos-and-goodbyes through these simple words that always reminds me of the “why” we go on adventures when she said: “I am not the same, having seen the #moon #shine on the #other side of the #world.”

Travel, the gift that may end with goodbyes, yet there’s always a new hello waiting along with a new friendship to be made around the next adventure!

5-minute stories highlighting the idea that “We mature not by age, but by stories.” HLBalcomb.com

5 For Sanity (5-minute story): Lessons From A #Mother‘s #Love: When my family immigrated to the United States in the early 90s, we knew that the transition would be hard, but we never expected it to be that hard – the first 7 years were #excruciating at times, yet my mother in her infinite wisdom had already made #preparations for us long before we left on our adventure.

My mother’s plans were simple..she would help us with our adjustment by shipping our furniture, little pieces of our past life, and through the form of little #seeds that she had discreetly packed inside of our luggage — little pieces from my home city of #Pretoria.

Every home that we have called ours since our trans-Atlantic move over the last 25-plus years, she has planted these seeds. They are usually the first to be planted in her homegarden. My mother and cosmos flowers have become synonymous concepts among her friends. Like her best friend Dotty once loving told me, “A home is not a home until Dina has #planted her beloved cosmos flowers.”

To us, they are an #annual reminder of our roots, the space where we grew roots first as a family. Additionally, they reminds us that home is where #love is — the building is only a dwelling place. It is rather the #relationships that take place within the walls where memories are made, history is relived, and gratitude is shared is what matters most. Although, we should never forget our roots, the place where our first sense of self was formed.

Cosmos flowers translate to “kosmos” in Afrikaans. “Kosmos” — roughly translates to kos = “cost” and mos =”implied what has been said.” When you look at big picture, these flowers are a reminder that love doesn’t “cost” anything – an implied reminder to us of what really matters — it’s #free and #uninhibited just like this beautiful #wildflower that naturally grows outside the city limits of my childhood home. Of course, in Afrikaans it sounds like this: “Die liefde ‘kosmos’ niks nie!”

So, my mom was right all along…she was trying to remind us of our #roots, a space of unbounded love and acceptance just like the cosmos flowers. A lesson that has now become part of my #own family’s traditions. A lesson inspired by a mother’s #wisdom, preparing for her family’s needs even in a space — lifestyle — of #newness.

5 For Sanity, 5-minute stories from interesting individuals reaffirming the notion that we “Mature not by age, but by stories.” Please feel free to like or to share this short story. HLBalcomb.com (Hermy author, Facebook). Let’s pollinate the world with positivity, much like the cosmos flowers

At 25-years old, Samantha suffered a stroke that changed the course of her life. Recently, I visited with her over coffee, and she shared with me how different her life is today compared to what her life was like prior to the stroke — almost a decade ago…

“I always use to love Robert Frost’s poem THE ROAD NOT TAKEN. I always thought that was the meaning of my life. To find the roads not taken,” Samantha smiles before continuing with her thought, “After the stroke, the one thing that completely changed in my life is this poem. Now, I feel that we should take the #highways of our life to get to where we want to go. After my stroke, I don’t want to waste time. There’s less time than we think, so my advice is to take the highways of your life. Take the highways and see how far you can travel on them.”

Her face is alive with passion as she speaks, “And that has made all the difference for me,” Samantha concludes.

The road less taken is actually the highway to our life’s greater purpose.

“Live,” she adds as an afterthought. “Don’t spend a second questioning that gift.”

Indeed, life lesson from Samantha, or as she calls it herself: Samantha’s stroke of genius…

Thanks for sharing a piece of your heart with us.

5 For Sanity: 5-minute stories from interesting individuals based on the philosophy that “We mature not by age, but by stories.” Stories have a way of speaking to our higher self, the self that seeks connection, and eagerly awakens the deepening of our own sense of awareness. Copyright: HLBalcomb.com

Feel free to share with someone whom you think will enjoy this story

My favorite part of being around children… they go out of their way to #find life’s #magic everywhere! For example, the excitement when a #ladybug made an unexpected landing on our picnic blanket! The smaller the thing that #inspires our excitement, the #closer we are to the highest potential of our purest sense of self (key lesson from Cinderella In Focus, novel).

Today, I found this perfect quote to describe “#presence” — something children are #naturally already masters of, seekers of magical possibility: “Presence is a #state of inner #spaciousness” (Eckhardt Tolle). A space of #inner spaciousness…

Inner wisdom: To be childlike in our approach to finding life’s magic in the monotonous details of life!

A #random #lesson from my children after school today!  #LifeInRealTime

I wanted to share these with you, first…thanks for coming along with me on this amazing #journey the last year! Can’t believe my son is one! We had such a great time with his cake smash photo shoot — hope this brings a smile to your face, this kid is a #character! #sharkweek #babyshark

5 For #Sanity: Sitting on a park bench, a young man sits next me. He asks me what I’m reading, and I tell him I am working on editing a book in the quiet moments of my life’s daily chaos. The man asks me what the book is about because is fascinated by the book’s opening question: How to find #hope you’re feeling #hopeless? I tell him that the answer to that question is where our fascination with the #Cinderella fairy tale resides. My book only supplies the scientific steps to a story that has been part of our culture (Western) for the last 500 years. I ask him what he does to find hope when he feels hopeless, and that is where the conversation turns interesting…

The young man said he thinks of the advice that he read about in a book sometime back. He said that there is a certain bamboo plant that only grows about 2 inches within the first 4 years of life — in ideal circumstances. And then around year 5, the bamboo grows 11 feet.

Wow, I answered. What happens within the first 4 years?

He looks at me and smiles. The first 4 years may seem like the bamboo isn’t growing, but it is growing roots — #deep #roots for exponential growth.

And that is what I hold onto the young man said when I need to find hope in hopeless situations.

Thank you, Leo.

5 For Sanity: 5-minute stories from interesting individuals to reaffirm the notion that “We mature not by age, but by stories.” The world is a beautiful place when we look at it through the eyes of “holy noticing!” HLBalcomb.com

This quote has been on my mind for a few days now…#nelsonmandela
“#Fools multiply when #wise men are #silent.”

5 For Sanity — a story from my own experiences: Most people in the United States celebrate Mother’s Day in May, yet my special day happened ten years ago on this day (07/22). My Facebook post reminds me that…. “Today, my daughter called me mama for the first-time and for a few seconds, the world stood still to celebrate in my happiness.” For most people, this day is just another day, yet for me this is the day that I truly became a #mom. For you see, up to this point, the world saw me as a mother, yet I was still #marveling in the experience of being a mother until my own #daughter, at about eight months of age, called me by my most #sacred #name – mama. To this day, I celebrate this day because it’s the alignment of my presenting self (the self that the world sees) with my perceived self (the self that is most sacred). It’s the day that I officially became: Crazy, Sexy, Motherhood — my greatest journey into the depths of my personal possibility. And what an amazing experience it has been…a daily reminder that life is serious, yet motherhood should be fun! A shootout to all the amazing mothers of our world! Hermy xx

5 For Sanity: 5-minute stories to reaffirm the notion that “We mature not by age, but by stories.” HLBalcomb.com