The Sneezeweed

Here I am. The little sneeze version of me. The version I still feel like I am most of the time. The version with big dreams and an even bigger imagination. The version of me that could get lost in a field of wildflowers, surrounded by ponies and rivers with jumping fish, sweet summer winds and cool crisp grass- all from the scratchy green carpet that covered my living room floor. The version of me that I feel in my heart and see in the mirror. The sneezeweed version.

I always was a sneezeweed. A flower that blooms in the fall when the world least expects life to spring from the earth. I always was a late blooming bud. I was born in late August, after a long, hot (and presumably miserable for my mother) summer. In elementary school, I stayed the same height for three years before shooting up like a weed in an untended garden. I hid dolls behind my bras in my closet so that I could take them out and comb their hair when the house was quiet. I sat in algebra daydreaming about tree forts and lemonade in summer-heat. I still kick my shoes off and relish in having dirt covered soles any chance I get. But occasionally, when it is certainly least expected, I spring up out of a decollate autumn state and bloom in new and exciting ways. Birthdays come with one more candle on the cake. High-water pants are left to goodwill and replaced with crisp new clothes. The dolls get packed away and the daydreams change. Though, I doubt I will ever dislike the feeling of the dirt between my toes-- once a sneezeweed, always a sneezeweed.

So what led me here? I thought you'd never ask- It is mid summer, the year I graduated college and, naturally, I am still tight in my bud wondering when in the world it will be time for me to spring up and shock the leaf barren trees. This time though, I am well aware that growth is ahead. And in an effort not to freak/ hyperventilate/ jump from the nearest rooftop, I have chosen to look for the little things in life that make me calm and happy in the present moment. And share them here in the hopes that they make you happy too.

Here you will find images, photos, views from my side of the lens. From the sneezeweed standpoint. So while other post-grads are off buying suits and practicing their best handshake at stuffy business dinners, I will be embracing the smiling girl in the image above, shoes off, searching for my destiny in the here and now.