I feel myself working against so many different forces at this time of year - I’m being pulled in so many different directions - that I can feel both energised and high, but exhausted and depleted too.

So this month, let’s reflect. Let’s stop and think. Slow down to notice. And focus on how blooming lovely we are - right now, as we are.

There is a race towards the sun this month: weddings or celebrations at the weekends, holiday plans to make, camping trips to pack for, b and b's booked, routes mapped out. And all that anticipation is happening at a time of great happenings, too. Picnics after school, plays with friends that squeeze the last drop out of the setting sun, sports days and the end of year celebrations. We race to an end. The ends of our days are stretched.

And whilst all that busy-ness is happening, the most glorious blooms are unfurling and taking up space in the garden, the hedgerows, the pots and flower beds. The flowers in bloom - those hard-won joys - are now on display. It is their time to shine. Sometimes I wander into the garden and - ping! - a bright geranium or a flouncy day lily will catch my eye. You weren’t there yesterday, I say. Yes I was, they argue. You just hadn’t stopped to notice me yet…

And so it is in life - unless we deliberately slow down and stop to smell the roses - so many moments and people and objects of beauty can pass us by. This month of madness demands that we press our noses into those roses, that we witness the swaying blooms around us, that we congratulate them on the hard work of growing and being and offering us so much. I know it sounds daft (I am unashamed to say that I can often be found chatting to the plants in my garden) but if we are not put on this planet to witness the beauty around us - then I’m not sure what we are here for.

My new mantra with my girls as we walk through the streets, brushing shoulders with front gardens, is: “get that nose into that rose…”

So this month, while the flora around us has the right idea, I encourage you to notice those things around you that you LOVE.

Also this month, with everything else going on, I want to reinforce the idea that my industry - even this membership at times - can have a bit too much focus on what needs to improve, to change, to get tweaked. In fact, I want to offer you the opposite this month: you are more than perfect, just as you are. You are in full bloom yourself! And don’t you forget it.

I went to see my elder sister this week to celebrate her birthday - and at 50, I do believe she is blooming more and better than ever. We suffer a dreadful cult of youth in our culture - and the idea of being in bloom is often reserved for the young or pregnant. Well, I beg to differ. Having just turned 48, I believe we have everything we need, everything required, to be in bloom at ANY point in our lives. There is no age limit to being in full bloom. Let’s keep blooming until we drop, I say.

This month then, I will share a couple of things that might inspire your thinking - particularly about what it is in life that helps you to bloom. I am also going to consider what it is you love about yourself - a flower already in bloom. There is an extract about the power of flowers, and a TED talk about how our blooming isn’t done to us - it comes from within.

I see you MAMA - each month at our meetings - each one of you in bloom. It is both a physical state but more influentially, a state of mind. This is the month to notice what blooms around you - and within.