I love Spring.
Every day I walk around our yard checking on spots where we have perennials, hoping to see the start of their resurgence... coming back to life after the winter. When we first moved into the house in April, 2010 it was even more fun because we didn't know what was there. New surprises showed up every week.
Having been in the house for seven years there are still surprises... the hibiscus that planted itself along our sidewalk; beside our existing one and then showed us that it's pink instead of it's bigger, older neighbor's red; the rebirth of two Lilly bulbs I thought were for sure dead last year; and the abundance of these beautiful little weeds wherever we put down new soil last year around our fire pit patio. Although they are weeds, I quite enjoyed seeing them (all the same) spring up, shouting to the sun WE MADE IT!!! I think I'll leave a couple of them, in support of their fortitude.
And I have to say that I think that's what I love most about this time of year. The joy these plants, and trees, and even the grasses bring to the world - if only for themselves. They are happy to be back, happy to be alive, happy to be reborn.
Perhaps we should wake up each morning form our little winters with the same kind of joyful expectations - that it's a new day, a new time to unfurl our leaves and grow again - the same, but different, perhaps stronger or more beautiful than before.
Showing posts with label Joy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Joy. Show all posts
Monday, April 24, 2017
Monday, November 21, 2016
First Things: Times of Joy
On Friday night I had the privilege to attend the official opening night performance of Dot at Detroit Public Theatre. Dot is a story about family's matriarch dealing with her gradual decline into dementia and Alzheimer's - and all of the relationships that a family typically struggles with during the holidays. Written by Colman Domingo, the play is wonderful and I cannot recommend it enough. Here is the info - go.
I was especially touched as my family deals with our grandmother's affliction with these same things - though her situation is far more along than Dot's.
In the play, there is a point where one of the character's boyfriends accepts Dot's incorrect assessment that he is her long-passed husband - and when she wants him to dance with her to an old Judy Garland song, the boyfriend lovingly plays along while the family watches in confused sadness. But for Dot - it was a moment of joy, to have her husband back in her arms - if even a mirage. Adam, the character, did not deny her mirage or her joy, but took the moment to see her happy.
Having lost a lot this year, I have learned to embrace joyful moments in times of pain. Hell, I've learned to accept joyful moments in times of joy. When situations change, and when times get hard, memories of good and wonderful times are the echos we have to the good in our lives.
As we enter this week of Thanksgiving, I want to be thankful for times of joy - from the moment they begin to long into my memory. And I pray those in my life and those I care about have moments of joy to outnumber, and carry them through, times without.
I was especially touched as my family deals with our grandmother's affliction with these same things - though her situation is far more along than Dot's.
In the play, there is a point where one of the character's boyfriends accepts Dot's incorrect assessment that he is her long-passed husband - and when she wants him to dance with her to an old Judy Garland song, the boyfriend lovingly plays along while the family watches in confused sadness. But for Dot - it was a moment of joy, to have her husband back in her arms - if even a mirage. Adam, the character, did not deny her mirage or her joy, but took the moment to see her happy.
Having lost a lot this year, I have learned to embrace joyful moments in times of pain. Hell, I've learned to accept joyful moments in times of joy. When situations change, and when times get hard, memories of good and wonderful times are the echos we have to the good in our lives.
As we enter this week of Thanksgiving, I want to be thankful for times of joy - from the moment they begin to long into my memory. And I pray those in my life and those I care about have moments of joy to outnumber, and carry them through, times without.