The flower you see above is one on my “Christmas cactus,” which is not actually a cactus at all and doesn’t always bloom just in December.
I just took it a few minute ago, and today’s date is July 6, 2022.
Unexpected? You bet!
To me, it’s a reminder that things don’t always go as expected. Sure, the plant had dozens of flowers in the winter, and many more appeared through April.
But in July!? That’s a real surprise! 😁
And it’s also a symbol for those of us who might not see our future in a positive way … thinking our best years/times are behind us.
Maybe we don’t see how we can “bloom” as we get older and hopefully wiser.
Maybe we think the future only belongs to the younger folks, however much younger they may be.
Maybe we think our best days are behind us … when they just might not be.
I know I had no idea at my advanced age of 76 — yup, 76! — that I’d be still working, still living a full life, still loving what I’m doing, and still figuring out how to keep on keepin’ on!
When I was growing up so long ago, folks in their 70s basically faced their death years up close, having retired at 60 or 65. They stayed home, got bored, and … died.
Not all, but way too many.
Now?
Reaching 100 is not out of the question.
It’s so different, and I’m really happy to live at a time when age — while still a real issue — isn’t the ONLY one that determines how we live our later years.
This little flower is a loner, but it’s still here, still vibrant, and still showing me/us that the future can hold marvelous things.
How about you, folks? How do you feel about aging? Will you stay with what you do? Find a second/third/fourth act to live in? Travel?
Ah, Ali, thank you soooooo much for your kind words! Nature is all around us, and that particular flower just was so unexpected as so much of life is.
Thank you, Ali!
I have a Christmas Cactus doing the same thing, Susan.
What your post brought up was whether we might even love the single unexpected flower more than the full expected bloom?
And does that transfer to your allegory as well?
I hadn’t considered it that way, but yeah. You’re so right about that single bloom, Charlotte! The others were wonderful, but there were many of them mostly all at the same time.
This one? Totally late to the party but … 😍 even more welcome than the others.
And it’s also a symbol for those of us who might not see our future in a positive way … thinking our best years/times are behind us. This quote from your post, Susan is brilliant.
I love creative minds who see a lide lesson from nature. You did this wonderfully well. We never know when our efforts shall flower but we know one day they shall.
Even in lonliness we do our best to thrive and keep going.