Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Meredith Bishop. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Meredith , really appreciate your meeting with us today to talk about some particularly personal topics. It means a lot because so many in the community are going through circumstances where your insights and experience and lessons might help, so thank you so much in advance for sharing. The first question we have is about divorce and how you overcame divorce and didn’t allow the trauma of divorce to derail your vision for your life and career.
The answer to this question is with a lot of psychological honesty, developed over a achingly long period of time. As someone who believes in the sanctity of marriage, awakening to the realization that the marriage was dead, it could not be revived, and that it was doing more harm than good to the people it was meant to serve came slowly and painfully. At the same time, I believe the death of a marriage should feel burdensome, and grievous, to the people in it because it’s quite a thing to lose. But at some point you must wake up to the fact that a healthy human being “does not hide unwanted things in the fog” (to quote Jordan Peterson). The courage of life is to look at the full spectrum- including the underbelly- and face the parts that scare you the most head-on.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
My journey in the world of cut-flowers has been an evolution, and I’m excited by where it seems to be headed. What started as a hobby business selling inexpensive bouquets from my backyard has matured into a full-grown, 4-season business with an equal division of my focus between design aesthetics and gardening education.
As gardening and growing has formed an almost exoskeleton to the recent tragedies in my personal story- holding me up and spurring me onward- I have come to more fully appreciate the role & lessons that nature can play in our human journeys. As I like to say, gardening is not a nice thing to do. It is a profound thing to do. To that end, speaking, teaching, and leading workshops on all manners of gardening has become a real (& unexpected) joy in my professional life, and I’m excited by the doors that are continuing to open in this regard.
On the other hand, a primary driver in my life has been the call the beauty, and my desire to hone my design skills has led me to some wonderful mentors who are helping me shape the garden-inspired, ethereal aesthetic that I endeavor to capture in my arrangements. I’m very grateful and blessed to be under the tutelage of a European-based, internationally-known floral designer this coming year and look forward to seeing how this manifests in my future designs.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
One thing young people always hear is “do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.” Amazing as this sounds, it can be hard to figure out what it is that you TRULY love and, for me, the answer didn’t come for quite some time. Looking back, one characteristic that I believe has served me well and allowed me to find the true sources of joy in my life is curiosity. I am a person with a lot of questions, and I love to follow a good foot-note rabbit-trail. This has led me to two of my greatest passions: classical education, and flowers. I’m not sure I would have found either without my ever-present, nagging need to poke & pry into things- to know more, to understand.
A second late life lesson that has served me well is to face my fears. For years, I was a person who wanted to fly under the radar- don’t stoke attention, don’t cause waves, stay safe. The hard truth is that life isn’t safe, and when you don’t face the little monsters, they somehow learn to grow, and you’re left with giant monsters that must be contended with. My advice for developing the courage needed to face the life that will, inevitably, unfold (the good and bad of it) is to practice contending with a small fear each day. It’s a version of exposure therapy, and it will build your muscles for grappling with those giants down the road. An additional benefit is that it will build confidence.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
I’m always up for collaboration, and love to partner with businesses also driven by beauty. This can mean fashion, retail, designers, etc- we often find that a mutual love of aesthetics is a natural runway into great projects!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bloomandbounty.com
- Instagram: @bloom_bounty
Image Credits
Brooke Rainey Photography
