Desert Mariposa Lily

The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love, and be loved in return.

I've been thinking about those lines this morning… thinking about the things I need, the things I'm missing, the things I want.

And it hit me. That's it. That's what I need — all I need: to love, and to be loved in return. Not perfection. Not certainty. Just love. Your love, if you're offering.

There's this flower, the Desert Mariposa Lily. It lives—fittingly—in the desert, surviving the driest of droughts. It doesn't need much. Just a little rain, and it bursts into bloom, radiant and alive. It doesn't demand the rain, doesn't call it down… but it's ready to respond when it comes.

I've weathered my own droughts, in ways you may not even realize. But with you… I've felt that rain. I've felt myself blossom, felt my roots deepen as my heart stretches toward the sky.

The thing is, the lily doesn't bloom because the rain promises to stay forever. It blooms because it was given the chance — just the nourishment it needed, even if only for a little while.

I hope with all my heart, my love, that the rain will last forever. But even if I prove too boring, or my mind too cluttered, or whatever the case may be…

Well. Even when the rain moves on, the desert is never the same again. That lily leaves behind seeds… tiny little gifts for the world. It makes the soil softer, kinder. The desert remembers.

Just like I will. Just like I do.

Your love, your presence, even your doubts… they've already left me better than they found me.

So, no. You don't need to be perfect (though I think you are). You don't need to give me everything. I don't need much… just the chance to feel that rain. To feel… with you.

That would be enough.

Yours.