Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Greater courage

senk 2013
Fronds in the undergrowth of a forest often look like satin apparel. Smooth and shimmering an iridescence of greens, nature's natural style surpasses anything simmering in man's mind. And yet, I wonder if from a bug's perspective, the landscape would appear as Christo and Jeanne-Claude's artwork. Their soft plumes of cloth, sometimes organic, sometimes repetitive gave perspective like the petals, leaves, and berries of nature's silver limbs, stretching as strings or stilts upon which to weave an ephemeral structure.

Christo once commented to critics: "I think it takes much greater courage to create things to be gone than to create things that will remain." And so, too, is it so in nature. In some parts of the world, seasonal rains bring a flourish of flowers that last only a matter of moments when compared to the year (or years) that fall between the lush display. In other parts of the world, the seasons flip through changes in the landscape so that the soul seems to yearn for fluttering green leaves in winter and for the drip of crystalline icicles in summer's strangling smolder.

And, this is so, too, friend, for those beautiful moments in life. When I consider encouraging words, heartfelt expressions, the splendor of happy events, the delicate joy of a child's trusting smile - of all those moments that exude a beauty that bursts into fireworks and is gone - I am reminded of the great courage it takes to recognize and savor those moments, and so, too, to let them go - not with a dismal outlook or regret, but with an inner joy that holds steady.

I wish this for you, friend. May an inner joy carry you from season to season and allow you to savor opportunities, when they do occur, where beauty cannot be bottled up.

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