Notes from a messy desk…
Half the people in my world seem to be dealing with some sort of health issue or other stressful life scenario these days. The other half are helping them to get through it. Is it only the people I hang out with, or what? Is this the norm after “a certain age’? Can I put it down to “just a phase” or something? Crikey.
Health related stresses might include: injuries, surgeries, respiratory ailments, vision or hearing impairment, dementia, addiction, heart trouble, autoimmune disorders, mental illness, arthritis, cancer… the list goes on. And let’s not forget the caregivers, often family and friends thrown into the deep end with little knowledge or warning.
Other stresses can be tough too. Perhaps you’ve lost a loved one through death or separation, or found out your job is in jeopardy, or you have to move unexpectedly. Maybe an accident totalled your car, or the travel plans you were counting on have gone south and taken your sanity with them. I could go on, but enough is enough, right?
Life, as it turns out, can be freakin’ fragile. And we don’t always see things coming. Well, sometimes we sort of do, but would rather not stare too hard in that direction. Denial, as they say, is not a river in Egypt.
On the up side of things – and there is one – the resilience of the human spirit never ceases to amaze me. Nor, I might add, do the good surprises we don’t anticipate. Sometimes the smallest events are the most heartening.
Thanks to above average fall temperatures, the three potted plants I took a chance on this summer are still blooming their little hearts out. Go, geranium! Rock on, fuschia! Hooray, other plant I don’t know the name of with tiny yellow flowers! For as long as possible, I’ll keep hauling you inside upon warning of frost, in appreciation of your bright beauty. Your refusal to stop blooming just because it’s October reminds me of the unsung heroes around us every day.
Like the limping lady inching down the grocery aisle, leaning heavily on her cart; the young mother overrun by wailing offspring at the medical clinic; the man at the pharmacy picking up a prescription for his dad; those in hospitals and care homes, or sheltering at home under adverse conditions. These heroes put out a remarkable number of new buds. The landscape of my life has been peppered with many such two legged flowers, and I’m repeatedly inspired by them.
When my dad was very old and needed surgery, it took a lot out of him. Sitting beside his hospital bed, watching his chest rise and fall, I noticed his eyes open as he smiled slightly and uttered one quiet syllable – “Boo”. Oh Dad! What a wonderful gift that little blossom of a word was, not unlike the miniature flowers on my plant with no name.
Some everyday heroes are like geraniums, bursting with bunches of colour among the darker greenery. Wind and rain may leave them damaged, but the petals left holding on lose none of their brilliance.
The fuschia plant people have their own gentle strength. Pairing purple with pink shows a mind of your own to begin with. Delicate blossoms that should have blown away long ago dangle tenaciously from threads, not unlike circus trapeze artists. Surely they will fall now! But no, not yet – and I applaud heartily.
Over and over, nature’s resilience comes through somehow, giving us renewed hope. If a fragile flower can hang in there a little longer despite blustery weather, maybe we humans can too.
