Roses In January

Remember the Desiderata?  It was very popular in the ’70’s. 

Go placidly amid the noise and haste and remember what peace there may be in silence.  As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons.  Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the full and ignorant; they too have their story.  Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.  If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.  Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.  Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.  Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery.  But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.  Be yourself.  Especially, do not feign affection.  Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass.  Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.  Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.  But do not distress yourself with imaginings.  Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.  Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.  YOU are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.  And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.  Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.  With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.  Be cheerful.  Strive to be happy.

YOU are a child of the universe.  YOU are good enough. 

Roses in January

Robert Fulghum, author of the widely popular All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten asks the three big Mother Questions in his book, What on Earth Have I Done?   #1 What on Earth Have I Done?   #2 What in the Name of God are You Doing?  #3 What Will You Think of Next?  And the Great Mother Question: Who Do You Think You Are?

These are great questions, spiritual questions, to think about when you start to write your obituary and, come on, it’s not as if you haven’t already thought about them.  Let’s begin with the Great MQ, Who Do You Think You Are?  This isn’t a comparative question.  It’s a spiritual question.  It’s hard to write your obituary, list the facts about your life, and be authentic.  Our culture does not encourage us to blow our own horn unless we’re in politics or interviewing for a job.  How do you qualify what makes you know that you’re good enough?  Some would base their answer on status, money, how expensive their stuff is, their house, their car, how influential their friends are, the alphabet behind their name.  They list their accomplishments which is the answer to the MQ What on Earth Have I Done?  As a spiritual question, the answer to Who Do You Think You Are? is elevated to a much higher level.  It’s the Desiderata.

 

Roses in January

Interesting that I’m reading about Out-Of-Body-Experiences (OOBE’s) and Near-Death-Experiences (NDE’s) at Easter time.  It’s the Jesus experience.  He knew.  Is it too early to talk about death?  Death is certainly part of aging but I don’t want to scare readers away.  One of the activities of the Good Enough Girls is writing our own obituaries.  We started out in a larger group as the Dissident Daughters based on the book by Sue Monk Kidd but over time our group dwindled.  There are four of us now and we were renamed when one member said that she thought we were “good enough.”  And so we are.

Roses In January

The first entry should have read: Welcome to Roses in January — a blog about, but NOT limited to, the Aging Adventure. 

My husband is a “rosarian” with a small ‘r.’  Pruning sixty rose bushes is proving to be too much.  Time to cut back — pun intended.  Roses are said to have the highest vibration of all the flowers.  Think of all the cathedral rose windows: Notre Dame and Chartres in France, and Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, to name but a few.  It’s said that the stigmata smells of roses.  The rose is a universal symbol of the qualities of love, divine beauty and grace.  There’s a spiritual quality to aging.  Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi writes about “spiritual eldering” in his book, From AGE-ing to SAGE-ing; A Profound New Vision of Growing Older.  More about that later.  So, the rose represents that spiritual aspect of the winter years, the January of our lives.