What Does Your First Name Mean?

I have two questions for you this morning:

Have you ever researched your given first name? I encourage you to  embrace with vigor the origin of your birth name and its meaning.

Have you ever looked closely at that which surrounds you? At gifts people have given you over the years? Like the meaning of your name, they provide additional clues to who you are and how you present yourself. I scrutinized the poster pictured below that my brother had sent me years ago.

It was a treasure chest full of insight just waiting to be recognized.
Ah. Iris:

A goddess of color.
A song of spring.
A woman of the rainbow.

In Greek mythology, Iris was a messenger goddess for Zeus and Hera – who rode rainbows on a multicolored bridge – to deliver messages from Olympus to earth. The name Iris in Latin means bringer of joy. In ancient times, the flower Iris was considered a symbol of power and majesty, the three petal segments representing faith, wisdom and valor.

How ironic that since I began writing in eighth grade, I always felt like a vessel for imparting information – long before I knew the origin of my birth name. I took naturally to being a carrier through which wisdom flowed from one vessel to another through me. And in my writing I tried to be – like the petals – wise, trustworthy and brave.

Preserving Your Bloom is my mantra and most things bloom in spring. And it’s no secret I like not only rainbows, but what’s at the end of each rainbow too – a pot of gold! Especially gold made into bracelets, necklaces, pins, chokers and rings.

Ah, but I digress. Let’s tear away from golden trinkets and return to the messenger segment.

What do you do when you come across an observation or statement that startles, enlightens, or jumpstarts your thinking in a new way?

I always save it. Some I drop in bright red file folders. Some I type in my quotes folder under Notes in my iPhone. Some I snap a picture of and put in Photos. Some I scribble on whatever scrap of paper is handy and hastily stuff in my pocket. Sometimes, the washer then eats them. Sometimes they survive. And, if I need reinforcement and a kick in the tushy? I carefully print a message on my funky kitchen blackboard. Like this one below:

Invariably, unlike the above admonishment, most of the gems are saved for future use, reference and inspiration. And now, since I have discovered I am a “Messenger,” this intense hoarding of information makes sense.

So below are observations which had a great deal of stickiness for me in 2017. Some were found in magazines and are without attribution. Some were heard in conversational podcasts and jotted down. Some have attribution. Some not. Most are not my own, but a few are.

And since Preserving Your Bloom In Order To Live The Life You Crave is my mantra, these particular quotes relate directly to flourishing:

Where flowers bloom, so does hope.
— Lady Bird Johnson

Every flower blooms in its own time.

Deep in your wounds are seeds waiting to grow beautiful flowers.
— Niti Majethia

Every flower must push through the dirt to bathe in the sunshine.
I give thanks for both my blooms and my thorns.
— Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Bloom where you are planted.

There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.
— Anais Nin

The flower doesn’t dream of the bee. It blossoms and the bee comes.
—Mark Repo

Think outside the vase.

Never yet was a springtime when the buds forgot to bloom.
— Margaret Elizabeth Sangster 

May your New Year be filled with a plethora of blessings, an unlimited treasure trove of creativity and endless opportunity to grow, engage and Bloom.

– Iris

P.S. How about sending me one of your favorite quotes for future publication at irisruthpastor@gmail.com? Why should I have all the fun of selection?