Pleasant Fades

The holiday centerpiece that i made 4 weeks ago at Garden Club is starting to look a bit stale. It's still green, but.... What? I'm tired of it? It looks like Christmas, and Christmas is gone?

The 3 carnations "passed" a couple of weeks ago and were carried out to the compost pile. The baby's breath has dried out, and their color has shifted from white to off-white, but they're still okay as a dried flower.

In the cleaning up of holiday decorations, the centerpiece has gone outdoors, to live next to the ornamental flowerpot of greens and a gazing globe. The centerpiece is a bit small for the job, but adequate for this supporting role of greenery.

And so life goes. From pleasant to neutral to unpleasant and back again. First, the centerpiece was pleasant. Then i stopped seeing it as it faded to neutral. Then i began "seeing" it again, only now it looked slightly unpleasant. Untimely. Unfresh.

Pleasant--we want it.
Unpleasant--we don't want it.

Are we at the mercy of pleasant and unpleasant?
Grasping every pretty, pleasant thing.
Pushing away every unsightly, unpleasant thing.

As if we could arrive at a place where everything is pleasant.
But even the pleasant fades to neutral, as we tire of it.

Holiday Centerpiece

At Garden Club on Monday evening, i made a holiday centerpiece. I stationed myself right next to the floral designer so i could receive step-by-step instructions. What's the strategy for filling the oasis (that green floral foam) with greens?

Once the cedar, boxwood, and balsam fir looked lush, i was on my own as to design. I used 3 carnations, 3 glittery peacock feathers, 3 pine cones i spray painted with silver glitter, and a batch of baby's breath. Oh, and a candle.

When we're learning meditation, it's good to get step-by-step instructions from someone who knows how.

I tried not to look at what other women were doing in baskets and vases. Some people are really artistic, their creations looked really festive, and, well, i'm....

Let's not believe what the comparing mind is saying. The mind holds onto negative thoughts like Velcro. I could just enjoy my centerpiece, which actually looks pretty good standing alone on the dining table.