Why Do We Send Flowers?
¿Por qué enviamos flores?--por Alisha Gorder
¿Por qué enviamos flores? ¿Para reparar lo que es intangible? ¿Esos sentimientos que no podemos sostener en nuestras manos y presentar como un regalo a nuestros seres queridos? ¿Y por qué los objetos que elegimos (la docena de rosas rojas, los fragantes lirios blancos, los tulipanes franceses de tallo largo) son tan fugaces? Si los conservamos durante demasiado tiempo, terminaremos con un desastre de pétalos, polen y agua maloliente.
Después de la muerte de mi novio, me dediqué a tratar de cerrar el ciclo. Escribí cartas y les prendí fuego. Fui a un terapeuta, luego a otro. Fui a yoga y probé la meditación. Me mudé a Colorado, después a Oregón. Fui a unos cuantos lugares y lo llevé conmigo a cada uno de ellos. He hecho mucho trabajo de sostener.
Hay una foto que le tomé unos días antes de irme a la universidad, dos meses antes de que muriera. Era el verano de las cenas de patatas fritas y guacamole que compartimos sentados en el suelo de la sala de estar. Está de pie en la cocina, con una camiseta blanca y unos vaqueros, y sostiene en la mano la mitad perfecta de un aguacate. Su cara está vuelta, oculta a la cámara, pero me gusta pensar que está sonriendo.
Recuerdo la canción que estábamos escuchando, el parloteo de las ranas a través de la puerta mosquitera, mis pies descalzos sobre la madera. Momentos preciosos que se vuelven aún más preciosos por el hecho de que llegaron y ya se han ido. Ahora mido los meses por lo que es de temporada: girasoles en julio, dalias en agosto, escaramujos y arces en octubre, pinos en diciembre, jacintos en marzo, peonías de esas que agradan a la multitud en mayo.
Una de mis favoritas es la magnolia tulipán, la forma en que los brotes estallan en flores y las flores en un lecho de color en los jardines, todo en cuestión de semanas mientras nieva sobre los cerezos en flor. Qué sorprendentemente hermosa puede ser la impermanencia.
Preguntas semilla para la reflexión: ¿Cómo te relacionas con la noción de que la naturaleza fugaz de la vida es lo que la hace preciosa? ¿Puedes compartir una historia personal de una ocasión en la que hayas considerado que la vida es valiosa precisamente por su naturaleza fugaz? ¿Qué te ayuda a apreciar la impermanencia?
Alisha comenzó su carrera en una floristería y ahora es publicista literaria.
Alisha started her journey at a flower shop, and now is a literary publicist. Excerpted from here.
SEED QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: How do you relate to the notion that the fleeting nature of life is what makes it precious? Can you share a personal story of a time you found life valuable precisely because of its fleeting nature? What helps you appreciate impermanence?
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14 Past Reflections
On Oct 22, 2024 Mish wrote :
With less time ahead than behind I became more appreciative of so much. It just changed the lens I see life through now.
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On Oct 22, 2024 Carl Riedy wrote :
I am 75 years old and as my body ages,
I am well aware of the impermanence of the human condition.
Also, we are in the Shenandoah Valley this week. The color of the leaves seem to change daily,
If not hourly and along with pine needles, create a
quilt of colors on the golf course fairways.
I am well aware of the impermanence of the human condition.
Also, we are in the Shenandoah Valley this week. The color of the leaves seem to change daily,
If not hourly and along with pine needles, create a
quilt of colors on the golf course fairways.
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On Oct 21, 2024 Gururaj wrote :
This extract really blooms when one reads the complete article by Alisha Gorder. Movingly poignant. Ah, the feeling component of the human being !! What a wonderful part when consciously complemented with physical experience and thoughtful reflection.
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On Oct 19, 2024 David Doane wrote :
For me, life is precious mainly because it is. It's a precious miracle. Enjoy and make the best of this bodily life while it lasts. The fleeting nature of one's bodily life is certainly one factor in it being precious. l remember as a young child thinking/hoping I would be the one person God would spare from dying -- that hope is almost entirely gone. I became aware of life's being valuable related to its fleeting nature as a child -- when my dear grandmother died when I was almost 7, when others died when I was a child, when I was an altar boy as a child and served at many funerals and witnessed peoples' intense grief, sadness, and crying. What helps me appreciate impermanence is that it's all around, everything comes and goes, and learning to accept and appreciate that that is how existence is.
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On Oct 17, 2024 Michael Maxwell Steer wrote :
And then ask yourself, where are the flowers in Gaza?
1 reply: Barbaras. | Post Your Reply
On Oct 17, 2024 stream wrote :
What makes life precious for me is feeling. Feeling connection, inspired by creativity and beauty. And I guess I have to accept impermanence because people and plants do not last and things naturally deteriorate. I miss a lot of loves that have disembodied and cherish memories. I guess I appreciate impermanence when my tears flow or I laugh out loud as some memory wells up in my heart.
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On Oct 17, 2024 Jagdish P dave wrote :
Alisha Gorder's Article Why Do We Seed Flowers is very interesting and instructive. Reading and reflecting on this article makes me think about how to live wisely. According to my understanding, life is fleeting. We tend to live in the delusion and fantasy that life is eternal. This delusion keeps me abiding in darkness and I forget that life is fleeting and one day my body and mind will go away. This article makes me think and live with a clear understanding of how I live my life. My life is very precious. It is very important. Today I am here and tomorrow I may not be here. This is the truth. Realizing this truth makes me live mindfully. Every breath of my life is precious and to breathe wisely. Today is the day. I may not be here tomorrow. Knowing this truth helps me know how to live daily and fully. Each day is a good day. Each day is a God's day. Each day, each breath is very precious.
Seeing many people passing away in my long life has taught me how to live my life everyday.... [View Full Comment]
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On Oct 17, 2024 Annie wrote :
I feel the profound tenderness of impermanence in the autumn. Those precious last days, hours even, of warmth and light, when the last few delicate leaves pepper bare branches. Truly delicious days that fill me with joy and deep gratitude.