about: me & the bee

Kelly Murphy...Soul Searcher, Flower Farmer, Junk Collector, Bee Hugger

I'm about art, optimism, kindness, and the connectedness of all things.  I admire people who've had the courage to overcome their obstacles and share their light with others.  I hope to do that too.  I believe in the ripple effect.  I believe that happiness can be found in the life that's right in front of you and I think we are all always right where we are meant to be. I've been many things in my lifetime...from bartender, to naturalist, to children's librarian and I am grateful for how each experience has shaped me.  I am creative, curious, compassionate, and free-spirited.  I am a seeker of all things good and true.  I am always for the underdog.  Recently, I decided to stop playing small, so I'm here to drag my dreams out into the light, live fully, and tell my story.

I'm a huge believer in the sustainable revolution.  I graduated magna cum laude, with a B.S. in Environmental Science, which means that I really, really care about the earth, it's inhabitants, and how they work together as a living system.  (By the way, the actual name of my degree is, Environmental "Management" but when I say that people think I'm a garbage collector, which I guess, I also am.)  I have always been passionate about flower growing and I've come to realize that my passion and my mission are one in the same.

I live in Ohio, in an old converted barn, with my three spirited kids, a dog, and a rabbit.  We love spending time outside in nature, especially near water.  My son, my youngest, has high functioning autism, which has taught me more about myself and the world than any other life lesson ever has (...well, first it kicked my a$$, then it taught me....).

I'm glad you're here. 

How The Groovy Bee came to be...

A few summers ago, I noticed a lack of bees flittering around the flowers, so I did an internet search to find out why.  I was pretty disappointed by what I read.  I'm not a fan of pesticides or genetically modified meddling...I don't care about spots on my apples, leave me the birds and the bees...please.  Colony Collapse Disorder, whatever the cause, is a scary deal, so I've become a bit of a bee advocate.

At about the same time I was digging into the fate of these amazing, little creatures, I was in the process of some hard-core soul searching, so as I was noticing how productive, well-organized, structured, and efficient bees are, I was noticing that these are things I struggle with.  I wondered what it would be like to be part of a hive. 

I imagined a bee who was hard working, but who couldn't resist the urge to stop, and appreciate the beauty of each flower. A creative bee, with rose-colored glasses, who saw life outside of the structure of the hive.  I'm pretty sure that bee wouldn't last a day.  Thank goodness the human world isn't so harsh, but sometimes it feels that way, doesn't it?  We all have the desire to fit in somewhere...to feel like were doing it right...to feel "normal".  (It was about this time that I started channeling Janis Joplin, which brought me back to my roots in the 60s and made the whole thing groovy, but that's a story for another day.)

I thought, just for fun, what if the other bees started to notice that the groovy bee made things a little more cheerful around the hive and made the work feel just a little bit lighter.  It would be a gift, wouldn't it?  I don't know how it works with bees, but I know with people it's our differences that make us special.  We are all in this thing we call life together and we all have unique gifts to offer each other.

I'm grateful for the bee who pollinates the flower, which grows into the fruit that provides nourishment for the body, and I'm grateful for the image of the groovy bee, who is brave enough to think outside of the hive and provides nourishment for the soul.  It's the thought of the groovy bee that reminds me to be "me".