It Moss Be Love

Hopefully by the time you read this we will have had some long-awaited sunshine. You may have even gone abroad in search of it. For sure, sunshine is a salve and a facilitator of an elevated mood. It brings hope and optimism, especially after such a long stretch of wet and mizzle. Ever the searcher of the silver lining and the glass half full, I have found the wonder of a wet start to Spring – moss. Moss simply glows green with pleasure in the wet. And, if you look, it is everywhere living its best life just now, especially in my lawn. I am hard pushed to find another that quite loves moss in the lawn the same as me (no surprise, it’s my partner). From afar it is vibrant and rich, up close it is fine and delicate. It is soft like a velvet cushion, springy like a memory foam pillow. Maybe that sounds like I am romanticising but what a wonderful way to keep your lawn green and cool in the hottest of weather, provide nesting material for the birds, and a micro-environment for all manner of tiny important living things. Like blackbirds and the way sunlight filters through the leaves of a lime tree, moss is one of my very favourite things.

Moss is not loud and showy. It quietly and slowly gets on with the business of growing in what can be the most challenging circumstances – the dim, the wet, the bare. Its wonder is that it thrives in such conditions. Its beauty is in the close inspection of its tiny leaves and tendrils. Some of its usefulness is that it absorbs water and carbon dioxide. It speaks to me of resilience and patience, of quietly thriving not just surviving. Part of me, and maybe part of you, speaks that same language. Could it be time to stop and appreciate those strengths? We don’t need big milestones or achievements to showcase these parts of us because all the small and quiet wins add up. Set-backs don’t take away from our progress, they just divert our attention from it.

 We are craving warmer sunnier days but you can’t have it all one way. You can’t have moss without the damp, you can’t have a conversation if you are the only one talking and you can’t fall in love unless you let go.