Every Bloom Begins Underground
Before we ever rise, we root. The hidden work of resistance is the foundation of liberation
We love to celebrate the bloom.
The visible. The triumphant. The glossy finish of what looks like “healing.”
But the truth is this:
Every bloom begins in the dark.
Before petals stretch to the sun, roots break ground in silence.
Before growth becomes seen, it is felt.
Buried. Tender. Uncertain.
Before we ever stretch toward light, we must descend.
Before joy, there is a reckoning.
Before clarity, there is confusion.
Before emergence, there is a necessary submergence.
We praise the rise but ignore the rest.
We honor the bloom but overlook the breaking.
We ask for the fruit but rarely tend the root.
This is where liberation begins—not in the light, but in the hidden labor of becoming.
We don’t talk enough about the work that happens underground:
The letting go.
The grieving.
The rest.
The reclaiming of rhythms deeper than grind culture allows.
You are not behind because no one can see your bloom.
You are not failing because your process is private.
You are preparing. You are composting. You are rooting.
This is the sacred, hidden work of liberation.
The part no one claps for.
The seasons that aren’t pretty.
The slow, aching, private moments when you’re unbecoming everything you were taught survival required.
And that work?
It’s not just valid.
It’s vital.
The Hidden Seasons of Our Becoming
Some of you are there right now.
In the dark.
In the confusion.
In the womb of the not-yet.
You’re questioning what you’ve outgrown, but haven’t yet stepped into the new.
You’re holding grief in one hand and hope in the other.
You’re exhausted by the demand to always be visible, productive, legible to others.
This too is liberation.
This underground season is not a failure.
It is a root-deep refusal to bloom in soil that is not nourishing.
And that refusal?
That’s resistance.
A Story From the Soil
I remember a time when I was praised for blooming.
I had the job. The accolades. The image.
But underneath—I was withering.
Because I was blooming in soil that demanded my silence.
My conformity.
My fragmentation.
It took everything to dig down instead of rising further up the ladder.
But when I finally said no—when I chose stillness over striving—I found something deeper.
Something ancestral.
Something unshakeable.
That’s what this week is about:
The bloom beneath the bloom.
A Reminder for This Season:
Supremacy culture rewards what’s visible.
But ancestral wisdom honors what’s rooted.
If you feel like you’re in the dark right now—good.
That means you’re underground, doing the sacred, quiet work.
You are deepening before rising.
And that’s where all true power is built.
Reflect With Me:
Where in my life am I being called to go deeper rather than push forward?
What “underground” parts of my growth deserve more honoring?
Who taught me to fear stillness—and what might I reclaim by embracing it?
What parts of me are rooting right now, even if they aren’t yet visible?
Where have I confused productivity with progress?
What have I buried that might actually be sacred?
Practice for the Week:
Root-Body Scan
Each morning this week, place your hands over your belly or hips and ask:
“What needs grounding today?”
“What feels ready to root?”
Let the answer come from the body—not the mind.
Breathe there. Begin again
A Rooting Ritual: Honoring the Hidden Work
Choose a quiet time this week. Sit on the floor or lay on the earth if you can.
Light a candle or place your hand on your womb, belly, or heart.
Say aloud:
I honor the parts of me that grow unseen.
I bless the season I’m in—even if others don’t understand it.
I root myself not in urgency, but in truth.
Stay there. Let silence speak.
A Liberating Truth
Liberation doesn’t always look like motion.
Sometimes it looks like molting.
Sometimes it sounds like silence.
Sometimes it feels like not knowing.
And sometimes?
The most radical thing we can do is pause.
Because when we give ourselves permission to be underground—
to rest, to root, to refuse the performance of blooming before we’re ready—
we begin to create liberation that’s sustainable.
Liberation that lasts.
Liberation that doesn’t just look good—but actually feels free.
Go Deeper With Us
This is just the beginning.
All month, we are moving through the R.O.O.T.S. Method™ inside the paid Liberation Lessons.
This week, we begin with Reflect—the sacred work of unlearning what growth was supposed to look like and reclaiming what thriving feels like in your bones.
If this free article resonates, I invite you to walk with us deeper:
Receive somatic practices rooted in ancestral wisdom.
Engage in journal prompts and reflection frameworks that center your wholeness.
Build a rhythm of sustainable resistance in community with others who are done blooming on someone else’s timeline.
This month’s theme is: Season of Blooming: Rooted in Resistance
And you are so welcome here.
➡️ Become a paid subscriber if you feel the tug.
➡️ Request a scholarship if funds are the barrier—Scholarships@DesireeBStephens.com.
Final Words
You are not behind.
You are not broken.
You are underground.
And that is (w)holy.
You are not stuck.
You are seeding.
The underground is not a punishment.
It is a preparation.
So when the bloom comes—and it will come—
It will be built on something real.
Not performance. Not urgency.
But roots.
Hold steady, love.
You're exactly where you're meant to be.
Every liberation begins in the dark.
Let yours take root.
In solidarity and liberation,
Desireé B. Stephens, CPS-P
Educator | Counselor | Community Builder
Founder, Make Shi(f)t Happen
New Agreements, New Systems, Deeper Connections
Writer of Liberation Education
Where Reflection Meets Transformation
Thank you for saying what I don’t know how to say.
This feels so incredibly wise and important. Thank you