01/22/2026
I thought I was just waiting to bloom, but I’ve been living as the thorny stem.
Today I was speaking with a client who is a powerful, successful and deeply capable woman who gives so much of herself in service. As we were talking, I shared some of the rose teachings with her…
That the rose is not just the bloom or the soft petals we admire. The rose is the whole plant:
the roots,
the leaves,
the stem,
and yes… the thorns.
As I was speaking, something landed for her. She paused and said, “I’ve been living as the thorny stem.” She realized she’s spent her life being strong, protective, capable holding everything up without ever having the right conditions, or giving herself permission, to truly nourish the softness of her own bloom.
And she’s not alone.
So many women don’t even know the beauty of their own petals, the romances with their own lives. The pleasure, the beauty, the tenderness that lives inside them because they’ve been busy surviving, serving, holding it all together and being the thorny stem. Sure, the thorny stem has its place but it’s not the only part of the rose. 🥀
This is why the work I’m doing, alongside rose priestess and shamanic mystic Leontine Hartzell, to bring forward the Rose Path Empowerment Retreat feels so important right now….
A week after Valentine’s Day, a time when we’re taught to look outward for roses we’re creating a space to give yourself the rose.
To romance your own life.
To remember your sensuality, your joy, your softness and your bloom.
Yes, I hope you receive roses from lovers if that’s part of your life. And… I also hope you remember that you are the garden.🪴
This is an invitation to meet the tender parts of you that have been waiting patiently beneath the thorns.🌹