I've had this collection, Season of Sunflowers, finished (mostly), but it's funny how the last 10% of a project tends to take up so much work and effort. Do others struggle with the final finishing work of projects?
The "final 10%" part came in the middle of a big move this summer. While the art was done for this "Season of Sunflowers" collection, I found myself with a lot more things to do than time to do them.
So, my well-intentioned plans for this release in early June went into the proverbial "to do later" folder and I needed to be content with that.
In this delay, I was reminded of one of the important gentle reminders from the summer season: the flowers that bloom during the summer are typically highly adaptable and keep thriving in spite of the intense heat of the season.
And then, as I was rummaging around the corners of the internet to find some details about a sunflower hybrid I'd seen, something new about these amazing flowers showed up.
Fun Lessons from these "Roadside Sunflowers"
Have you noticed those roadside sunflowers that pop up on the side of highways or freeways or along roads?
On the drive from California to New York these happy flowers popped up all over the place! These smaller, rough-and-tumble style of sunflowers, a bright spot of yellow on the often rather dry highway roads bobbed in the breeze and seemed to wish me cheerful greetings as I drove by.
These sunflowers, with smaller faces, have several flowers to one stem. Instead of standing straight and tall, these roadside sunflowers look a bit more like a tumbleweed with petals and stems extending up and out in all sorts of directions.
And yet, in spite of the twists and turns of the stems, their faces still turn up, and look out towards the sun.
I was trying to figure out which variety this type of "roadside sunflower" is when I came across
an interesting article.
Sunflowers tend to thrive in "disturbed" soil such as roadside soil. Even though many seeds take root in the soil, because of their height, sunflowers have the capacity to not only take root but grow and thrive.
Sunflowers are already good at adapting to a variety of soil and moisture conditions, giving them one more advantage to flourishing on the roadside. They don't need "just right" conditions in the soil or water situation.
Adaptable, able to reach its life source (the sun), endurance to withstand less-than-ideal environments are all essential qualities to have, not only for sunflowers but for myself as well.
Lesson from the Sunflowers :)
So, as I finish this fresh adventure, with all the ups and downs a coast-to-coast move creates, I am reminded of the importance of emulating some of those same traits myself. Stay adaptable, keep my face turned up toward the Son, let go of needing everything to be "just right" and learn to flourish in what is.
More fine lessons to learn from our friends, the sunflowers!
Enjoy this gallery of the new collection.
If you'd like to purchase the art, you can
shop here. Thank you for your support!
Stationery and stickers coming soon.
I'd love your help in choosing the next stationery card design! Choose from one of the sunflowers at the bottom of this post (1-7) and submit your choice below by July 26, 2023.
As a small "thank you" I'll be mailing out stickers to everyone who submits a vote. One sticker per person, please.
