A metaphor

When I lived in Texas I had a plant that I absolutely loved.  Most of the time it would just sit there looking like a nice plant, but every year or so it would bloom, and it was the most fragrant plant I have ever known. I kept it in my bedroom, but I would walk into my apartment and boom, smell that plant. It was such a happy surprise the day the flower smell would take over my entire apartment.  Seriously, you guys have no idea. It is such a weird plant.

When I moved I left behind most of my plants, but I brought this one plant with me. It is not small, and it basically took up the whole area behind the passenger seat on the drive to New York.  The car was very full, to put it mildly, so the plant became a bit of a hassle. My mom (who drove with me), did not understand why I needed to cart this plant across the country.  Well the plant mostly made it, a bit brown and dehydrated. The top part of it snapped off, but my mom actually saved it and it started regrowing at her house in Virginia. 

Since I've been in New York the plant has been sitting in front of the French doors to my patio, getting as much sunlight as is possible in these northern climes.  It seems to be doing ok, slowly regaining its health.  The tips of all the leaves get brown, as is true of most of my plants. I have learned this is because the air is dry, so I have started misting my plants regularly. (I am not really a plant person, I tend to go with the survival of the fittest strategy - if it lives on me barely watering it then it is a good plant for me. So actually misting a plant is a big step for me.) Recently I actually thought it might be taking a turn for the worse, a lot of the lower leaves turned brown and I had to cut them off. In my two plus years here it has definitely not shown signs of blooming. I had pretty much come to the conclusion that it just wouldn't do well in this climate, and it might have been a waste to trek it all this way.

Imagine my surprise when about a week ago I noticed a shoot come out of the top of the plant. It actually was making flowers! Then finally about two days ago the fragrance began, and I have been delighted by the smell filling up my house again. It really pleases me an irrational amount to have this plant blooming again.

I am actually about to go out of town for Thanksgiving, so I am sadly going to miss some of its blooming. But at least I got to experience a bit of it, and at least I know that it will bloom again!

I have decided that this plant is a bit of a metaphor for me and my move here. Just recently I have really been feeling like myself again. When I look in the mirror I feel like I even look like myself again. It makes no sense, but it is like I have had two years of bad hair days, and even my hair finally looks and acts like I remembered it was supposed to. Part of this is surely helped by the fact that I have been losing weight finally, but even that is rather miraculous because I have been trying to lose weight for two years to no avail (actually with the opposite effect). Personality-wise too I have been happier and more socially involved with things and staying active and busy. It seems that the adjustment period of moving to a new place is coming to an end. I was thinking it would be about a year, but I guess two years is about right. Actually, if anyone had asked I would have thought I was adjusted already, but this is a more subtle change that is more just about feeling like myself again and  that I didn't realize was still missing.