A Brand New Day

Spiderlily

My early morning stroll was my treat to my self. I had soft sand under my feet, a fantastic view of the sea, cool breeze in my hair, and the sight of these white flowers. How calming, how reassuring. Never mind that the lovely vibrant white ones were surrounded by their fallen comrades who have done their duty to appease vacationers and locals alike. There they stand held upright by one proud stem as if to encourage all to take courage and welcome the new day with all its challenges which are its blessings.

Flowers by the Seashore

Untended and allowed to do as they please these wild plants along the beach are a boon to my squinting eyes. There is just something about an early morning stroll and being greeted by the flowers as exquisite as these. 

They seem to carry a message to those who behold them. Here they are thriving under the naked sun, able to take root in not the best of beds while providing a kiss to weary souls. Simple blessings.

Embroidered Flowers

I  do not know if the flowers above were done by machine or hand-sewn. The framed piece on the wall was the only thing i found beautiful in the room billeted to us by our client. I am grateful to realize i am noticing some good thing amidst ho-hum surroundings. Flowers never fail. Even if they are not real.

I marvel at how we, mere mortals, try to duplicate what God, the Creator of all creators, has done. We try as best we can to copy the shapes and hues of nature in the effort to preserve something forever... tributes to the great artistry of the Immortal Hand.

Return to Happiness

Merry May.

We mark our days by seasons.  Every thing  has its own time. 

Life has its ups and downs. Sometimes just downs. But there is always a ray of sunshine to brighten our days. Or lovely flowers that remind us that everything will be all right.

The Lily of the Valley flower means a return to happiness. Folklore has it that when St Leonard suffered wounds from his battle with a dragon, where his blood fell there sprung these white bell-like sweet-smelling blooms.  From pain and agony has come something beautiful and sweet. It is also said that when Mary's tears touched the ground when her son was crucified, those tears became those flowers.

Transformations.

That is my present inspiration. It will come. Sooner or later.

“How should we be able to forget those ancient myths that are at the beginning of all peoples, the myths about dragons that at the last moment turn into princesses; perhaps all the dragons of our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us once beautiful and brave. Perhaps everything terrible is in its deepest being something helpless that wants help from us.

So you must not be frightened if a sadness rises up before you larger than any you have ever seen; if a restiveness, like light and cloudshadows, passes over your hands and over all you do. You must think that something is happening with you, that life has not forgotten you, that it holds you in its hand; it will not let you fall. Why do you want to shut out of your life any uneasiness, any miseries, or any depressions? For after all, you do not know what work these conditions are doing inside you.” 
― Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet

It's all good.

Gift of Golden Showers

What a glorious sight the Cassia fistula tree is in full bloom! It is beyond words. In the days of summer they seem to make up for the extreme heat by conniving with the wind to rain down its yellow petals on whoever happens to pass under its shade. Your gaze upwards will take a moment.

As you turn your gaze toward the ground you will notice that it has been laden with a carpet of gold. What luxury to tread upon. Magical. Simply magical.

I am grateful to live in the suburbs where i get to see these beauties.

Peace

"Death must be so beautiful. To lie in the soft brown earth with the grasses waving above one's head, and listen to silence. To have no yesterday, and no tomorrow. To forget time, to forgive life, to be at peace.
- Oscar Wilde

Whenever i go through an especially difficult time, when life presses down on me so hard, i remember loved ones who are now "resting in peace." Blessed are they who no longer fear, pine, nor can be disappointed and hurt. Theirs is the peace and serenity we wish we had consistently in our lives. No longer bothered, agitated, and stressed.

For our dear departed, all we can do is cherish the memories we shared, lives knit together by design and circumstance.

As we continue to strive in the days left to us, may we all have pockets of sunshine and the deep joy of knowing everything will be alright.

Do not stand at my grave and weep, 

I am not there - I do not sleep. 
I am the thousand winds that blow, 

I am the diamond glints in snow, 

I am the sunlight on ripened grain, 

I am the gentle autumn rain. 

As you awake with morning's hush 

I am the swift-up-flinging rush 

Of quiet birds in circling flight. 

Do not stand at my grave and cry, 

I am not there - I did not die.

~ Mary Elizabeth Frye

Nature Heals

"never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful"

 -- Emerson

It is always a blessing to come upon beauty in the outdoors. Last weekend i found myself in a tropical rainforest in Calauan, Laguna. While scouting the area i noticed a peculiar plant. Its little white flowers are like sparklers that shoot up from a mound of black berries which are set in the middle of a bed of radiating leaves, like a flower within a flower. I don't know what these flowers are called but I was smitten. I felt my spirits lifted up.

It is a magical thing to have eyes that see and feel the comfort of nature. They seem to appease one's wretchedness. Their quiet but assuring presence is a balm to the soul.