After several days of deluging rain, the sun and blue sky and pink clouds have returned and I notice that moving from Joy to Joy to Joy lifts me up. This phrase came alive for me recently when my partner read me From Blossoms, by Li-Young Lee.
It put me in mind of the time Mike and I were visiting family. It was late summer, and we were going to Penticton, BC’s amazing wine and orchard country. We asked our son whether there was anything we should bring along when we came. Zack said, “Well, you should bring along a napkin to wipe the peach juice from your chins!”
Moving from joy to joy to joy lifts me up….for me this is about living our life to he fullest, not leaving out any opportunities for appreciate, celebration, and joy that come our way. It is absolutely not about ignoring the hard stuff, not burying our heads in proverbial sand. It is about noticing the miracles, the good memories, the “ordinary/extraordinary” in our lives, which lift us up and give us the courage and energy to deal with the rest.
A couple of joys for me are the vibrant colors of autumn leaves, hearing from my grandkids, sitting quietly in the cosy evenings with twinkly lights and/or tea/wine; a deep, relaxing breath…. and so much more, including peach blossoms and fruit! What are some of your joys? I’d love to hear.
As Lee says, “take what we love inside”, and let it nourish us wholly. And, by golly, he also suggest that we be jubilant, that we celebrate those days and moments as though death were nowhere in the background.
Let’s do it! I give you:
From Blossoms
BY LI-YOUNG LEE
From blossoms comes
this brown paper bag of peaches
we bought from the boy
at the bend in the road where we turned toward
signs painted Peaches.
From laden boughs, from hands,
from sweet fellowship in the bins,
comes nectar at the roadside, succulent
peaches we devour, dusty skin and all,
comes the familiar dust of summer, dust we eat.
O, to take what we love inside,
to carry within us an orchard, to eat
not only the skin, but the shade,
not only the sugar, but the days, to hold
the fruit in our hands, adore it, then bite into
the round jubilance of peach.
There are days we live
as if death were nowhere
in the background; from joy
to joy to joy, from wing to wing,
from blossom to blossom to
impossible blossom, to sweet impossible blossom.
Jill Schroder is the author of BECOMING: Journeying Toward Authenticity. BECOMING is an invitation for self-reflection, and to mine our memorable moments for insights, meaning, andgrowth. Check the website for a sample chapter, or see the reviews to get a flavor for the volume. Follow me on Twitter, let’s be friends on Facebook.
