Flowers – a Common Bond Across Nationalities and Ages

Spring is officially here although the weather in Maryland this past winter has seemed like we’ve been having spring since November.  Along with the warm weather has been the early arrival of flowers and budding trees.  I love them all – everything from the daffodils along the motorways to the flowers that are adorning my postage stamp garden.  The colors and scents are leaving me in a better mood and happier. In anticipation of planting my containers; I’m beginning my plans for a deck and patio filled to overflowing with flowers this summer.

To begin my spring fling with flowers this year, I visited the Philadelphia International Flower Show.  For those who haven’t been to a flower show but love plants and flowers, it’s an experience that I’d highly recommend; however, a show as large as the one in Philadelphia can be overwhelming.  When you first walk in, it’s hard to know where to begin.

I started my tour through the show with one of my favorite flowers, the orchids. There were so many varieties in gorgeous colors; it reminded me of the orchid gardens that we visited in Kuala Lumpur a few years back.  The Kuala Lumpur Orchid Garden is located at the highest point in the Lake Garden and is filled with flowers and enchanting butterflies. It’s one of the most beautiful and serene gardens that I’ve visited. 

From the orchids, we proceeded on to the masses of tulips.  These displays reminded me of our visits to the Keukenhof Gardens in The Netherlands.  There was even a display there from the Keukenhof. We’ve been lucky enough to visit at the height of the spring blooming season when in addition to the thousands and thousands of tulips, there’s an abundance of colors and fragrances from other spring flowers. It was so stunning that we had to go back a couple of times.

One of my favorite areas was the Ikebana displays.  Ikebana is the art of Japanese flower arranging and the show presented several different styles of arrangements.  I studied Ikebana with a Japanese Master while living in London so seeing these displays prompted me to attend one of the workshops while at the show.  During the workshop, the Master prepared 7 different arrangements, which has inspired me to get out my kenzans and study my text books.  I want to see if I can still follow all the rules and disciplines of my favorite style.

This week, on the spur of the moment my husband and I decided to visit the cherry blossoms in Washington DC.  They were at their peak and the blossoms were the fullest that I’ve ever seen them.  We wandered around the entire tidal basin taking in the glorious blossoms.  It was also fun to hear all the various languages spoken by the other visitors.  People were happily chatting and enjoying spending time together while enjoying the beautiful scenery.

Flowers have always been a huge part of my life.  As a little girl, my mother had several flower gardens that she tended enthusiastically. I’d wander through them and if I thought I could get away with it, I’d pick some to take into the house with me. I’ve since visited gardens in many countries and have found that plants and flowers have the same affect on people regardless of their nationalities, bringing them happiness and boosting their moods.  I hadn’t realized that March 12^th was “plant a flower day”. I missed it but I’m sure that any day will work.  If you love flowers, I encourage you to take the time today to find a way to enjoy them!

 Happy Spring!! 

“Flowers are love's truest language” - Park Benjamin

Happiness is to hold flowers in both hands. - Japanese Proverb

 

The Anti-aging Bullet

Have you noticed that most of the Spring issue magazines are featuring anti-aging articles, or if not, it’s “being beach ready by Memorial Day”?  Not to mention the hundreds of books that are now out on those same topics.  There’s everything from anti-aging products such as nutrition, physical fitness, skin care, hormone replacements, vitamins, supplements and herbs. It is a lucrative global industry (and one that I wish I had stocks in)!

What’s wrong with being the age you are if you are over 60?  OK, we do have our aches and pains but on the plus side we have the experiences of life.  That can’t be packaged into a pill and given at doses a couple of times a day. My role models are Dame Helen Merrin, Dame Judi Dench and Suzanne Lumley.  All of whom are beautiful over 60 and loving life just as they are! (is it me or are all of the lovely let me all hang out 60+ ladies British?)

We should all have a list of things that we want to accomplish, whether or not we call it our “bucket list”.  What we want to accomplish in our lives is completely free and based on who we are.  What makes each of us special is what we desire and our determination to see it flourish.

I have to admit that I’m a “self-help junkie” and I’m constantly reading books on how to improve myself.  Those of you who know me know that I’m not sure any of them have really worked but I’m considering myself a “work in progress”. When I lived in the UK, I was lucky enough to meet the most wonderful lady, Pippa Davies, who is a marketing guru, as well as speech coach and author.  She’s a psychologist who helps people communicate.  We immediately hit it off and I threw myself into reading all of her books.  She’s an amazing lady of “our age” who has coached Prime Ministers and several cabinet ministers as well as CEO’s and board directors of blue chip companies and has presented on BBC.  She has also had the tremendous pleasure of coaching an Oscar winner.  She’s a formidable lady but I love her to bits and really miss her and our lunches. She’s also a confessed self-help junkie and we’d often discuss what the most current self-help articles and books had to offer. I’d really just like to be able to sit down with her and ask if it’s so terrible to be 60+ and why do we have to buy into all of this anti-aging hype.

We have to face the fact that no cream, supplement or any other devise is going to reverse the aging symptoms, regardless of the advertising hype.  We have to realize that it’s not fatal to have a few wrinkles and aches and pains – it’s a right of passage into the “golden age”. And we can take the advertising blurb from the hair commercial – “We’re worth it!!” and know that whatever we want in life, it’s worth going after.  It might not be the bikini on the beach or some other 30-something dream but it’s real life, as we are living it in our 60’s!