A new direction.

I’ve wound up my gardening blog and am over here to let my thoughts be given free rein on any topic that takes my fancy. Not for nothing is it called Everything and Nothing and that the url means “my foot in my mouth” (my partner’s suggestion - I wonder what he’s trying to tell me!)

Let me kick off with a lovely observation from Kate here. I’ve been thinking and reading a lot about aging recently and I think her metaphor provides a nice link between my old blog and the new.

gracefully aging

While admiring the Pulsatilla vulgaris this spring, I began thinking of how the life of a flower from bud to seedpod loosely parallels our lives. When we are young and in full bloom, we turn our faces to the sun and bask in our youthful beauty and exuberance. It is a time of unlimited possibilities and much exploration. Our petals are shiny and bright. We are filled with youthful optimism and yearn to reach higher and experience as much as we can.

And then, as time goes on, we gain more knowledge and a deeper wisdom about life. We have cycled through our early adulthood and have reached middle age. We have learned much about life and love and know the meaning of loss. We know, too, what is really of value and what we cherish.

It is a time of a different sort of beauty- more of a radiant, inner one. Even though we are exhorted to try and maintain youthful appearances and banish any outward signs of aging, there is a dignity nonetheless in allowing ourselves to enjoy the skin that we're in.

Just as with the Pulsatilla, the seedpods are not as flashy as the flowers, but they still have an allure. There is a mystery to them. They are occupied with other things beyond passing fads and pleasing others. Sometimes these are hard lessons to learn.

Thank you once again Kate for allowing me to use this.