Well, hello there. My name is Morgan Harper-Nichols. I'm an artist and a writer, and this is a space where I share words that I hope can make a little room for you to slow down and take a few deep breaths as you prepare for whatever lies ahead. Thanks for being here today. And now...

During yesterday's episode, I began the first installment of a week-long

series on how to thrive in the desert. I mentioned my visit to the desert botanical garden near where

I live in Phoenix, Arizona. And I talked about how I had found many parallels between ourselves

and the desert plants during my short time there.

And if you like to hear the first part of this series, be sure to listen to yesterday's

episode available wherever you listen to podcasts. Though my visit to the garden was short,

I learned so much about desert plants while I was there. On our introductory tour of the gardens, one of the

things that really stood out to me was that growing plants that are native to the area is much

easier than growing plants that are not. As I learned on the tour, plants that are outside of their

natural habitat tend to need more attention in order to thrive.

This immediately got me thinking about how difficult it is, how difficult it can be, to move to a new

area and begin setting down new roots. Moving through life's transitions is often difficult

for so many people, myself included. To start over in a new place or even in a new territory of

life requires us to be brave in the face of so many unknowns. Whenever we find ourselves in a new place,

whether physically or mentally, we may feel like it's harder to thrive. We may feel like we need more,

more rest, more attention, more sunlight, more nutrients than we did before.

And part of learning how to thrive is accepting that this is completely okay.

Because we are not planted firmly in the ground, it can be easy to forget that we have the

freedom to move as we please.

Many of us have experienced these kinds of transitions before, moving to a different town,

working a new job, starting new relationships, and sometimes ending old relationships.

...