A change gon’ come
May Day is a public holiday celebrated on May 1 in many different cultures around the world... maybe not so much in the US, but I got a good introduction to May Day when I lived in Europe many many years ago. It’s celebrated as a day of unity and rebirth. It’s a day for everyone to come together and celebrate life as we know it! It’s a day to celebrate life as it is today. Now that doesn’t mean that we relinquish hope for a better tomorrow. But we can do both, right? Appreciate today and hope for a better tomorrow …
May 1, as well as the entire month, is a time of flowers blooming and trees and plants returning to life. Nature blooms and becomes colorful again!
If you know anything about me, you know that I love flowers! I get this from my mom. But if I’m honest, I didn’t appreciate it when I was a child. I mean .. what child does? I’d wonder why she was always so particular about her plants. I’d think to myself, “they’re just gonna die anyway.” Now, I see them as a representation of the simplest form of nature’s beauty … the Earth’s candy. The fragrance, the sight … what’s not to love?
For me, May Day also represents a time of change. I’m swiftly moving through the chemo season, and into the next phase of this journey. Many months of chemotherapy can cause some dampening, but as with all things, a change comes. And eventually it’s done. I’m not there yet.. I still have some treatment left to go. And if this week is any indication of what the final drops of chemo feel like, I may still have a few challenges ahead. But I can feel the change coming. I can see it. I can taste it (well maybe not, these taste buds aren’t worth two cents these days). In the meantime, I am blooming and growing, and evolving into this new person that’s been strengthened through my journey. I take notice of the new buds that are sprouting from bits that I’ve learned along the way. I think back to the person I was when I started this journey in January, and I smile at her. She has no clue of the woman that she would become.
So, as I celebrate the end of another month of chemotherapy, I do so with an appreciation for my growth over the last few months .. introducing myself to this new woman that I’ve become. This new woman is much more patient with herself. She is less critical of herself. She accepts that she is doing the best that she can. I hope to plant some flowers this weekend to celebrate her. Well, maybe I will direct Sydney to do the planting instead …. I look forward to basking in the sun.
“I am in awe of flowers. Not because of their colors, but because even though they have dirt in their roots, they still grow. They still bloom.”
