“What you gaze on, gazes back. What you contemplate in faithfulness, changes you into itself. Turning and turning you’ll come around to being open like earth in which much can grow.”
~Gunilla Norris

I began my morning with a stroll through a hosta heaven. I had taken the light rail to the office this morning which allows me to walk down Nicollet Mall and through the Loring Green area before making my way across Loring Park. As I progressed past the many green and manicured areas, between the high rise apartments and condominiums that flank Loring Green, I began to notice the plethora of hostas. It is the boon of gardeners to plant hostas, those shade plants that allow a yard to have towering trees that create more shade than most flowering plants can take. These perennials have the magic of sprouting out in the spring and creating a blanket of green throughout the summer. All with very little work of the human kind! They are hearty and hardy plants and can grow with enthusiasm, needing to be thinned out every so many years.

Along the pathway that curves and turns between the buildings, the landscapers have planted a wide variety of hostas. There are ones with white and green or yellow and green variegated leaves about the size of my palm. There are ones whose leaves shine in the light of any sun that manages to peak through the branches of the trees overhead. And then there are the ones whose leaves could almost conceal a small child, leaves tinged a Kentucky bluegrass color. Looking at them, one expects a fairy to emerge at any moment.

This was the path that began my day. I found that as I walked through these lovely shade loving plants, I began to walk more slowly. My eyes moved right, then left, careful not to miss any of the variety that had become a morning meditation. Snuggled between the hostas were flashes of color, impatiens and an occasional gerbera daisy. But the hostas held court in these green spaces created for the hungry, city soul. I allowed my pace to slow to what might be called meandering. There was work to get to but walking through this heaven of hostas seemed the most important task at the moment. I found my spirits lift, my breath slow and go deeper.

There is much to admire about the hosta. It can flourish nearly everywhere. It is not a high maintenance flower. Basically you plant, water and let it alone. It is one of the first green things to push up out of the soil in spring. It grows fast but not too fast, allowing those who really pay attention, a certain satisfaction at its progress. If need be, it can spread to take up the space that is open. It does not need to be in the spot light to be its true self. And when it overstays its welcome or spreads itself too far in any direction, it can be thinned out and given a new home to begin once again.

Sounds like a pretty good way to live to me. My invitation is this: the next time you have the blessing of being in the presence of a hosta, spend time with it, treasure its beauty and its strength, and learn from it. We could all do with being a little more hosta-like, don’t you think?