What if I’m a blossom tree?
That’s the thought that keeps returning to me lately, as the roadsides light up like impossible pastel fireworks on the way down into the village; as Rory works out his notice and our entire financial future rests in my sleepy, distractible hands.
Destined to bloom brightly then fade in a flurry of pink confetti. One windstorm, one heavy rainfall and the glory is gone; splattered on the pavement like pink pebbledash.
But oh, what glory they bring. I once dated a man whose mother was irrationally irritated by cherry trees. ‘They’re gorgeous for one week and then they make a huge mess’, she told me, ‘then the rest of the year they’re just boring.’
Needless to say, I couldn’t agree. I think my favourite thing about the blossom might be its brevity; the watching and waiting as winter fades, the glorious riot of colour after so long in the gloom.
& besides, who wants to live that way – skipping joy because it might just be temporary, hating beauty because it’s helplessly ephemeral. How boring it would be if we applied these rules everywhere – no cake for me, I’ll only eat it. It’s the same logic, I suppose, that made my grandmother suggest I get more drastic haircuts in the name of ‘good value’.
Outside, children shout in the street and shake the branches like horticultural hooligans; upturned palms collecting fistfuls of springtime snowflakes. Teenagers throw their book bags high above their heads to unleash a shower of confetti, and all the time the bees are humming above in an ever shifting cloud.
And in the end I think, it’s ok to not be spectacular every single day. It’s fine to be practical and ordinary, strong and steady, dropping acorns in Autumn with no fanfare or glory. & if spring comes around, it’s ok to burst into activity, too: a frivolous foam of pastel pink fun, that fades to obscurity for a while, and makes my ex’s mum tsk.
In fact, that’s positively encouraged in my book. Seasons of creativity & all that, right?
(I don’t know what this post was about. I just had a lot of words about blossom trees, and nowhere else to put them..)
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13 Comments
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Jasmina Haskovic
April 16, 2017
Reading your blog today makes me so calm. Thank you. xx
Lucy Sheref
April 13, 2017
Oh I LOVE this post so much. Have you read Daring Greatly by Brené Brown? That feeling of foreboding joy is so common – I am terrible for not enjoying things in the present, as I presume it’ll all go away. You totally got this 🙂
krissy @oftheeveryday
April 07, 2017
random rambling musings. my absolute favourite kind. truly.
Mackenzie
April 06, 2017
Lovely post Sara 🙂 I especially related to the part where you said “it is okay to not be spectacular every day”. I feel as women, we feel pressure to be spectacular all the time; perfect home, perfect job, etc… Thank you for writing this.
Sara Tasker
April 04, 2017
Thank you Paula! SO I got no notifications for comments on this post and thought it was a dud, but of course I should have guessed you’d be hear cheering me on. “Next year it will bloom again”. I love this. It goes so well with my favourite, “within you is a world of spring” too, right? I feel a line in inspirational posters coming on! 😀
Sara Tasker
April 04, 2017
My emails did NOT tell me that anyone had commented and I was all, oh man, that’s what I get for talking nonsense about cherry trees, but here you all are! 😀
Inna Turchyck
April 04, 2017
I read myself in these lines. Like trees burst with blossoms I blow with creative inspiration and bloom. It always temporary and it can’t be consistent – because if we only bloom all the time we would never give any fruit. There should be a consistent part of life ( which your exe’s mom called boring) – but its the part of life which gives us the most!
London Beauty Queen
April 03, 2017
My favourite part of the whole piece was the final line: “(I don’t know what this post was about. I just had a lot of words about blossom trees, and nowhere else to put them..)” 😀
Marianne Andresen
April 03, 2017
I feel the same! Thank you for charing.
melanie.sylvia
April 03, 2017
Well whether or not this post was about anything I loved it! Beautifully written. Xx
Jessica
April 03, 2017
This was beautiful Sara. Most days my life are boring and very unglamorous, working full time, house chores, bill paying, appointments… but then there are periods of fun, adventure and beauty. And I think it’s always worth the wait, and always worth the work to get to experience those things every year.
Deb @ Inner compass designs
April 02, 2017
I too loved this post- for its beauty, poetry and the reflection on enjoying the wonderful things we have in our life and world, no matter how fleeting (and perhaps even more so because it is fleeting). Xx
Paula Solar
April 02, 2017
I loved this post, it’s so poetic in a way! I think everything in this world is ephemeral, us humans included. We’re here one day and the next we’re gone. What matters is what we do in between, what use do we give to the time that is given to us. Enjoy every step of the way, just like the trees enjoy their delicate colourful life when they bloom, the next day will probably be over, but life goes on and next year it will bloom again. New children will be born, and the children will be parents, just like their parents were children once. Life keeps coming and going… enjoy your in between.
And please keep writing.
xxx