Strong and enduring tulips in the snow

On endurance and strength, inspired by tulips in the snow.

The photo "Tulips in the Snow" is a compliment of my Dutch friend Wim Vingerhoed, a Mozart enthusiast from Eindhoven, Holland. Wim has given me numerous wonderful images of Mozart, flowers and nature, but this one, tulips in the snow" has always been a favourite. A lovely sight of yellow-coloured tulips in snow. Ik wens je een prettige dag.

It's spring here in Sydney, although at times we experience the four seasons without snow. On the other side of the hemisphere where other friends live, it is autumn, and perhaps might make more encore after the actual start of winter. Beholding the photo taken by my friend Wim, I wish I'm over where he took it, go out and get snowed on. My mind wanders. In my musings, the cold air seeps through my being while I delightfully witness how the snow clings to the tulips and almost cover some new buds on the trees around.

Tulips, most popular in the Netherlands, don't bend over or resign to the cold. They stand tall against the gusts of winter air, with their bloom, yellow in this photo dusted with snow. Look at the lovely image: they're brave and strong, unresigning to the cold. I love tulips alongside roses and orchids. Spring is the season expected to recover from winter's extreme cold. But winter is not necessarily harsh.

I so admire the fortitude of tulips in the snow, almost in rebellious defiance to the cold winter winds. What endurance and strength amid life's challenges if we let go and let God.



Image credit:

"Tulips in the Snow" by Wim Vingerhoed.

Coping with Grief by Writing

Thank God I'm a Writer

Living with a loved one's loss is a major challenge to hurdle. Some colleagues and friends journalise. I occasionally do. It's actually therapeutic. Although well-meaning friends may offer support, self-help books and other first aids for emotional hurt are also available. It's only when we experience the loss itself that we can fully understand what the bereaved undergoes, along with the extent of relationship we have with the departed.

Myths about grief and loss of a loved one proliferate, but I'd like to think that they are just that, myths. Sharing lessons learned about grief and grieving, some of them, the hardest way…

• Pretending to carry on as if nothing has happened does not help.
• Each of us doesn't grieve in the same way.
• We can be angry about our loss.
• Instead of avoiding it, talking about it to supportive people reduces the pain.
• We don't need to think only about pleasant things.
• We don't always have to keep our feelings under control.
• We don't have to keep extra busy just because we are grieving.
• That even if our faith is strong, grief can still be as intense.
• The painful feeling diminishes as acceptance of reality progresses.
• We should not set a milestone when the healing will completely end because we cannot. It might take months or years.
• To never expect help from friends or relatives, that way we don't get disappointed and hurt more, but if they do, to thank them graciously.
• To regularly pray and ask for strength.

Emotional healing is more difficult than an ordinary wound. But we should let the process happen, and let the healing begin. Thank God for the gift of being able to write one's thoughts and sentiments. Such a cooling therapy.

All the Things You Are (Song)

 
Down Memory Lane / Song 


"All the Things You Are" is a song composed by Jerome Kern with lyrics written by Oscar Hammerstein II. It was written for the musical Very Warm for May (1939). It appeared in the film Broadway Rhythm (1944).





Other Link:

Ella Fitzgerald sings All The Things You Are. YouTube, uploaded by Cristin mce. Accessed April 14, 2012.


Video Credit:

All the Things Are.  YouTube, uploaded by Hoffemay. April 14, 2012.



(c)  April 14, 2012.  Tel. Leaves from my Musings. All rights reserved.