The Japanese go out of their way to appreciate cherry blossoms, the brief beauty so similar to much of our lives. Goodness gone so quickly. Moments of joy that pass into memories. What we love in this world will, eventually, disappear as well. Does the ephemeral have enough value to be embraced?
Everything ends. Fact. We love, we need to love. Fact. How do we live with loss and grief a constant possibility? One option is to be safe, love less, hurt less. Unfortunately, that means we are less human, less ourselves.
Another is to love more, create a stability of multiple relationships, a broad base that supports us in loss and grief. To me, gardens are part of that base. I fall in love with plants and, yes, I lose them. I've lost gardens as well. But there's a network of realities, you might say, that still exists.
One of those things that needs to be experienced, like love itself. A reality that can't be dissected or proven. But every time we fall in love with anything, a pet, a person, a tree, the possibility of a network of support exists.
