A Rose garden | Day 181 of my 2023 Journal

Cecilie Conrad·Jun 30, 2023

My mother-in-law has a garden with beautiful roses. We went one beautiful morning, the same day we left Sealand, to spend some time with my husband's parents and say goodbye. The roses are lush, rich, and wild, and we enjoyed them as we enjoyed the company of loved ones, the sunshine - and the roses.

Roses are one of the garden disciplines to enjoy. Why do we even do it? There are so many flowers out there, wonderful as they are, blooming rich and colorful and easy to grow with no effort. Roses are delicate, vulnerable, and unique. They take time; they take skill; they take effort, they take feel.

Humans have bred roses for a long time, and we enjoy them very much. We stop to smell roses, look at roses, take pictures of roses. To be invited into a rose garden is a beautiful thing, an honor. Walking around the roses, we walk around an incredible achievement; hours spend on beauty alone.

To the rational mind, it could seem entirely off to grow roses. Still, there is something deeper in the human mind than reason, and roses - all of them - are such a great reminder of what is truly important, of how complex life is, and of the importance of stopping to enjoy and appreciate love and beauty whenever possible.

So, we stopped to enjoy my mother-in-law’s roses and the company of my children's grandparents, and as a bonus: Their friend visiting from the States, a kind and inspiringly intelligent human being whom we appreciate very much too.

It is never really fun to say goodbye to loved ones, and the ripple effect did show its hard face the following days. But we did it. Said our goodbyes and went off to get the van ready for a 100-day road trip starting that same evening.

Love and light

Cecilie-Underskrift-300x133

Cecilie Conrad

🇩🇰 Also available in Danish 🇬🇧

Thank you for reading
I would love to hear from you. Listen to your thoughts and reflections - or praise :) It is often emotional to share our life like this, and we get very happy when we get feedback from you. So feel free to share a comment below 😋

Previous Århus | Day 182 of my 2023 Journal

Next Productive | Day 180 of my 2023 Journal

Comments

Write a comment...

Unschooling and Parent consulting, conversations, blogposts, and podcasts on family life and learning

Hi, I'm Cecilie Conrad. I'm a trained psychologist, mother of four, radical unschooler and full-time traveller. I have lived with unschooling for over a decade and help other families find their own path – whether it is about homeschooling, unschooling, or the bigger question of how you want to live as a family.

I offer guidance, conversations and talks. I call my work grandmothering – not coaching in the traditional sense, but presence, professional insight and concrete help navigating motherhood and finding your way home to your own values.

Am I the right person to help you? You can book a free discovery call, and we'll talk and figure it out.

Unschooling & Parent Consultant

Grandmothering – not coaching. Read more here

Listen to my podcasts

I share my knowledge and curiosity about family life and learning in my two podcasts.

Listen here

Read my latest blogposts

More About Homeschooling. Six Classic Questions

We get many questions about homeschooling; here, I have collected the 6 most common questions and answered them. Hoping it will help you in your proc…Read more

Homeschooling: What kind of hippy is that?

Homeschooling is the most radical choice in the flock of different leaders in our family. What does homeschooling entail, and what on earth is it abo…Read more

Seven great reasons to co-sleep with your children

Seven good reasons to co-sleep with your children and stay with them and tuck them in until they are completely asleep. Read more

Is your child's hair a business card?

For many women, their children are like a business card. They need to look neat, always. But do you respect your children less than other people's op…Read more

Cancer survivor - Finding meaning in life

There are many who have asked me to write something about how I survived – and how our family got through it. And I also really want to share it. Read more

Can boys have long hair?

I was about to tell Storm that ‘Boys don’t have long hair.’ Most probably because he was simply so super-nice with that messy blonde hair that was cu…Read more

Siblings without jealousy

Sibling jealousy is rarely about the relationship between siblings. It is about the child experiencing that it is not seen by the mother and/or fathe…Read more