When you don't like where you're headed...

Busy and in a rush were two great ways to describe me before.

I was working a job I absolutely loved but it controlled me and my time, instead of the other way around.

I felt a lot of pressure to keep up the work and the hustle and the delicate balance of being all things to all people.

Then I saw my daughter - playing “work” and typing on her pretend keyboard and talking on her pretend cell phone.

Her sisters came over to play with her but she couldn't because as she responded she “was too busy on a work call”.

Ugh. Dagger to the heart.

Instead of making me proud that she was going to become a “hard worker”, I felt intense sadness that my daughter could miss out on the best parts of her life if she kept up this “too busy” mentality.

That was because I had shown her that example.

I had created a mini me and in that moment knew that I could no longer sacrifice our family environment for my work life.

Enter in the garden.

The garden gives us an opportunity slow down and take a deep breath…

There is nothing wrong with working hard but when the hard work is keeping you from your life, that's where the problem is.

Slowly I began to peel away from that hustle mentality and made more time for seeing the beauty unfold in the garden.

I gave space to the girls to create their own beauty and together, with my husband, we are building not just a garden but an unhurried and anti-cultural life where we set the rules around time and work, not the other way around.

I am extending this calm invitation to you, as well, with every bouquet you purchase.

It's not just a pretty ornament to decorate your home but the beckoning of a slow life that awaits you.

How will you practice the pause today?