So why have I chosen a photo of roses when I'm thinking about all the ordinary everyday tasks of life? The unending paper tasks, the dishes, the tidying up, the book-keeping, report-writing, preparing meals and all of that?
Its because roses are ubiquitous, well in August in Britain they are, and in my imagination too. Nothing unusually special about roses is there? They grow everywhere in such variety. Wild ones, tame ones, neatly clipped, climbing all over the place, forgotten in corners, waiting in garden centres, heavy with rain, scented, pale, richly coloured, budding, in full bloom, blowing and turning to rosehips. Wherever you have been walking this summer you'll have seen them, whether that's in gardens or parks or out in the country.
These in the photo (click to photo to enlarge) were ones I walked past everyday in Cambridge. Noticing them enriched my day. How?
How? Well, both for their own beauty and as a reminder. As Gertrude Stein said, ' A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose'. There's simply the beauty of a rose-noticing moment.
And, and there's the connection with all those everyday tasks, they are a reminder to notice the good in the everyday things we do, the letter ready to post, the room cleaned, the list ticked, the calculations that add up, the soup served. We walk past the roses anyway. And we can notice them. That can give inspiration and motivation.
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