Flowers in a pot and vase!

The Gerbera daisy flowers, in an earthen pot in the plant deck, in our courtyard produce flowers a few times in a year. This time it has a pair of flowers. Anna is the one who tends these plants.  In fact, as she is away, the sight of a pair of flowers gives me a refreshing reminder of the years of togetherness we have shared together, which would be forty years not too far from now. The two flowers appear to be fully alive!

The bunch of rose flowers is from our rose bush, which I rescue every morning from being eaten away by grasshoppers, bugs and other insects. They add colour and freshness to our drawing room. But hey fade and fall off !  I think they are less fragrant once removed from the stem of the rose bush. 

Both, the flowers in a pot and vase are more not just decorations or visual attractions. They tell us of a life of theirs. 

All plants and flowers have  story of their own. 

The Gerbera flowers come from a plant which was just a seed at one time. From it arose a seedling which is now a mother of flowers. The seedling when placed in a controlled soil environment grew to be a plant, which when transplanted in to an earthen pot with nourishing soil grows to give the flowers. It survives against many odds and diseases. It lives to give flowers which falls off after a while, and remains dormant preparing itself for another season of flowers. It seems to live hidden during which gestational time, it forms itself to give away its colourful flower in a meticulously arranged rows of petals in a circular shape. If we long for a depth journey of meaning and contentment in life, it would need  quiet seasons of inner presence and persevering centerdness.  

The flowers in the vase too have a similar journey. But it suffers when separated from the plant. Its life is cut short when taken away from the plant. But it survives that trauma and stays in the vase of water and gives the best it can still give. The flowers do not stay traumatised. They absorb water and stay fresh till it no longer has life left to endure! The petals fall off one by one and by the time all the flowers drop the petals, it is one week or more! It is an outstanding example of full living after suffering a loss. Which of us do not suffer from trauma or loss! Some of us turn that into growing in resilience and  others go under it feeling heavy of distress each day! No matter what might be the circumstances, living fully till life offers the opportunity, is the calling in life!

Going deeper into life would grant us stillness and peace because that is the place of inner fortitude. Living with that personal pursuit gives us energy to survive the circumstances and be fully present to delight others. 

No life is fully human till it finds its larger meaning by being mindful of others !

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)