Fading lilacs

 

 

As we were leaving home early this morning for an 8-hour drive, I snipped a little branch from my lilac tree to provide some pleasure in the truck cab while driving. I didn't take a photo of the fresh sprig, but it was delightfully fragrant, and I picked it up to enjoy the beautiful scent. However, by lunchtime it started to wilt and droop (see first photo) and a few hours later, was a pretty sad sight (second photo). Even worse, the beautiful smell was pretty well gone even by the time I took that first picture; and for the second, it was beginning to be replaced by something less than beautiful.
I guess I wasn't surprised to see the bloom dry up fairly quickly when cut off from its source of nourishment, but I *was* surprised that the scent disappeared so quickly. Somehow I thought the blessed smell might linger even when the plant dried (after all, what is potpourri - just dried up flowers, right??).
I guess the lesson is that like the flower, we all draw our nourishment, our sustenance from one or more important sources. How we appear externally or physically, and how we "smell" or what is going on internally that emanates out from us, depends a lot on those sources. And in fact the two (external and internal) are usually linked. When our source of nourishment is cut off, we will quickly begin to change and decline.
I #GiveThanks for important sources of nournishment and enrichment in my life that include (especially) beloved family members, dear friends and close associates, things I habitually read or listen to, activities I engage in, and the spiritual influences I allow to come into my heart and soul. All of those make me who I am. And I'm working on making sure the "aroma" is continually improving. (Judy no comment needed here.)

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