Category: Flowers

Fall in Love…

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Daffodil

I had planned to share poetry on the blog every day this month–as I did last year–but reality dictated otherwise. What was I thinking, anyway? Last April we were “sheltering-in-place,” so I had time to read and think about poetry for pleasure. This April, hmm…not so much.

However, I will take advantage of the last three days of National Poetry Month and share a few poems.

For today’s literary treat, I’m sharing one from Morgan Harper Nichols‘ book, All Along You Were Blooming, which I talked about in a previous post. She has a gift for speaking to whatever moment I’m in; I am sure many feel the same way. The poem I share today is a lighthearted reminder to love life in all of its simplicity and complexity.

Fall in love with the art of living.
Fall in love with letting things be.
Fall in love with listening.
Be still in the sun,
where the winds ever-gently blow,
knowing it is here,
in moments like this,
you are living,
and you will grow.

Morgan Harper Nichols, from All Along You Were Blooming

Tomorrow is “Poem in Your Pocket Day,” so let’s have a link party! Join me by sharing a poem on your blog–yours or someone else’s. Be sure to come back here and add your link to the comments. I don’t want to miss your poems! Maybe, I’ll “discover” a new poet!

Let’s share until the very last minute of National Poetry Month, 11:59 PM.

Check out some other ideas for PYP Day by downloading a PDF filled with ideas and poetry from the Academy of American Poets.

Student Post 7: Wisdom from The Magician’s Nephew

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Sunflower PhotoArtStudents in my course are encouraged to shape their blogs in the way that serves their blogging purposes, but there are obviously some skills they must exercise to become strong non-fiction writers. To that end, we do some workshopping and writing exercises in class that help them stretch their writing muscles. Some of these exercises are developed into blog posts. Some are submitted to literary journals. Some remain in the students writing journals while they continue to work with them.

One of the exercises required students to reflect on a significant quote. In today’s post Markus of Mark’s Art Stew talks about a quote from C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia, “The Magician’s Nephew”, and its recent impact on his life. Be sure to read his post and follow his blog. He offers a little something for everyone.

About the Image: The image above is one of the [far too] many pieces of sunflower photo-art hiding in my files. I might have to compile them into a book or start a sunflower blog. 😉

Student Post 3: Three Poems and a Tea

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Red and White TulipsThe weather is not being nice to me today [imagine that in a whiney four-year-old voice]! We went from gorgeous, breezy, 80-degree (Fahrenheit) days to a chilly, windy 30/40-degree day!

The temperature thwarted my plans to take long walks between tasks and classes, but it gave me an opportunity to pause, sip tea, and read poetry. Don’t you want to join me?

Well, just grab a cup of your favorite tea and settle in.

I am sharing a few poems written by Na’veh of The Bloggings of V.  Na’veh is one of our department’s most prolific poets, the self-proclaimed favorite student, and my homegirl (from NOLA).

Here are three of her poems–because poems should be read in threes:

If you need more poetry for your tea, you can find Na’veh on her blog or at thewritingsofv on Instagram, where she shares her poetry with complementary imagery.

About the Image: The red and white tulips are from one of my very early spring walks. I was surprised to see the “field” of tulips in a hardly peopled area of campus. Na’veh selected the tulips for this post because she “loves roses.” [Inside joke] 😉

Student Post 1: No [Wo]Man is a Paradise Island

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Rhododendron-2

No man is an island entirely of itself. –John Donne

I had many posts planned for this month, and like the many posts planned for the first quarter of the year, they’ve been placed on the back burner until I have time to actually enjoy putting the posts together. For now–this week, at least–I will share posts written by my student bloggers. I planned to share links to their blogs in one post; instead, I decided to highlight specific posts by the students and hopefully boost their readership.

The first post was written by Wanéa, the “small girl with big thoughts.” In “No Man is a Paradise Island” she talks about being an introvert during the pandemic.

Click the link and show Wanéa some blogiverse love. Be sure to follow Unbecoming:

“No Man is a Paradise Island.”

Notes: I’ll be sharing random shots from my brief escapes from the computer screen with the student links. That way I’ll contribute something. Right? Also, I know I can hit the “reblog” button at the bottom the student posts, but is that effective? I wonder how many people actually click the link to continue reading…

Easter Reflections

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4 Purple Tulips
From “Dawn Mass Reflections at Corcomroe Abbey,” Walking on Pastures of Wonder, John O’Donohue in conversation with John Quinn:
 
On this Easter morning, let us look again at the lives we have been so generously given and let us let fall away the useless baggage that we carry — old pains, old habits, old ways of seeing and feeling — and let us have the courage to begin again. Life is very short, and we are no sooner here than it is time to depart again, and we should use to the full the time that we still have.
 
We don’t realize all the good we can do. A kind, encouraging word or helping hand can bring many a person through dark valleys in their lives. We weren’t put here to make money or to acquire status or reputation. We were sent here to search for the light of Easter in our hearts, and when we find it we are meant to give it away generously. The dawn that is rising this Easter morning is a gift to our hearts and we are meant to celebrate it and to carry away from this holy, ancient place the gifts of healing and light and the courage of a new beginning.

 

May you seek and find the Light…

Steeped in Purple

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A garden in purple is always in bloom.

Today was gorgeous, and I was desperate to get out, soak in some sun, and spend a few moments with my camera. However, the task list kept me at my desk until I [literally] ran away from my office.

I couldn’t get to the spring blooms, so I’m taking a moment this evening to appreciate [again] all the purple in this gorgeous collection of purple flowers Connie F, one of my Love Notes friends, sent for International Women’s Day. The postcard inspired me to go in search of more purple this week, but because the to-do list limited my outdoors activity, I went to my purple happy place on Pinterest, my “Purple Passion” board.

Now that I am perfectly steeped in purple, I’ll return to my tasks. Be sure to find some purple in nature this week–especially if you’re a purple person. 😉

You are a purple person if…

You are imaginative, sensitive, artistic, and sophisticated.
You have noble ideals and a keen appreciation of the cultural.
You are alert, demanding, foresighted, confident, resourceful, spontaneous, and highly independent.
You take delight in the beautiful, the gracious, the sensitive, but maintain an attitude of critical appraisal.
In love, you seek to attain a magical quality and refuse to settle for anything less.
You refuse to be “swept off your feet” unless genuineness and integrity can be absolutely ascertained.
You are active in the support of things you believe in, and are concerned with the pursuit of truth and other human values.
You take chances and believe that you must do so to make the most of what life has to offer.

Purple is a unique color, and it is truly a unique individual who holds it dear.   —Pin Image

P.S. I do not like this new thing WordPress has done to the editor. Bring back the “classic” Classic Editor! [Insert side-eye]

I Can…

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Earlier today I had a conversation with one of my students. She was having a moment—one of those moments when getting out of bed is difficult and facing the day feels impossible. I’ve been having those days quite a bit lately. In fact, today was one of those days.

I felt it as soon as I forced myself out of bed at 5:09. It hung over me like a heavy weight while I showered. It stuck “in my craw” while I prayed and journaled. It slowed me down as I dressed and packed my bags and offered all the reasons to hide under the covers and try again tomorrow. But, of course, being an adult, I had little choice but to “suck it up” and face the day.

It’s not anything in particular that places us in these “ugh” moments. It’s the accumulation of “life stuff.” Our operating in a pandemic for the last year certainly doesn’t help—the isolation from those we love, the death toll, the uptick in technology use. It’s downright wearying. It’s depressing, and we have to do everything we can to take care of ourselves and avoid slipping into a deep well of despair.

I told my student to get out of bed, open her curtains, let some light in her room, seek counsel, and meditate over scripture. I shared with her on those days when I feel like I just.can’t.do.life, I repeat over and over and over again the only Bible verse I have the energy for—

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. —Philippians 4:13

I can. She can. You can. And we wake up the next morning, realizing, we’ve survived another one of those moments.

About the Image: My Love Notes friend, Arielle W, sent the sunflower above for International Women’s Day 2021. She sent it with IWD wishes and a cheerful spring greeting. What a beautiful way to begin the week!

Suddenly Spring!

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Suddenly the archetypal
human desire for peace
with every other species
wells up in you. The lion
and the lamb cuddling up.
The snake and the snail, kissing.
Even the prick of the thistle,
queen of the weeds, revives
your secret belief
in perpetual spring,
your faith that for every hurt
there is a leaf to cure it.

 

The Japanese magnolias and flowering pear trees have reached full bloom. Soon the blossoms will fall and the branches will fill with the cheerful green of early spring.

Winter has its purpose, but oh, how I’ve longed for this first day of spring! After a few days of rain, the day is bright and beautiful, and I’m looking forward to some much-needed time in the sun!

Nothing says spring in certain parts like the daffodil. I’ve been seeing clusters of them crop up in the last few weeks–at the edges of driveways, encircling trees, around mailboxes, and in the floral section of the grocery stores–like an invitation to this moment.

I was happy to find the cheerful watercolor of daffodils [above] in my mailbox. Eileen V, one of my Love Notes friends, sent it in celebration of International Women’s Day, but in the dismal last few days of winter, it was a welcome reminder of the sunny, hopeful, healing days to come!

Wishing you a…

Happy Spring!

Mental Health Day: The Task List Can Wait

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Life is all about balance. You don’t always need to be getting stuff done. Sometimes it’s perfectly okay and absolutely necessary to do nothing –Lori Deschene, founder of Tiny Buddha

Since we have no spring break this semester, the University built “mental health days” into the calendar. Today is our March mental health day.

I woke up this morning and performed my morning rituals—journaling, worship and Bible study, and writing. I, then, filled my task list with all the things that must be completed by Friday and went back to sleep for two or three hours.

That felt so good.

Initially, I looked forward to today for a different reason: I thought of it as a whole uninterrupted day to get caught up on “all the things.” In fact, I worked the entirety of our February mental health day and proceeded to work doggedly until today. I realized, as new tasks and challenges arise daily, the work is never done and if we plan even our days off around our task list, we will never, ever get the breaks our minds and bodies need.

I’ve given myself permission to rest and I’m accepting the gift of this mental health day. I’m going to enjoy the rain, watch a Netflix movie, write postcards, daydream, and play board games with my guys [later].

Days of “not bothering,” to use Piglet’s phrase, are good for the soul. Have you taken a mental health day lately?

About the image: The skillfully captured image of the columbine above was shot by my Love Notes friend, Christine B. She sent it in celebration of women for International Women’s Day.

When You See Me Standing…

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may i grow
so tall and bright,
so free and wild,
so brave and vibrant
that when you see me
standing
you think i am
a sunflower.

Gaby Comprés

About the image: I received such beautiful cards and messages for International Women’s Day/Women’s History Month that I decided to share some on the blog this week. The sunflower above is from Diane W, one of my Love Notes friends. Her card was the first to arrive, and it was such a pleasure to open her sunflower-adorned envelope and find the sunflower inside with other goodies–the poem above, a “Horned Poppy Fairy” postcard, and positive affirmations neatly penned on daisy-shaped cutouts. Diane enjoys making cards using postage stamps, but this was her first time making sunflower cards. This unique beauty is on its way to my sunflower wall!