Petals and Pages: Turning Over a New Leaf

Two of life’s great mysteries

Thinking I love my wife is good, but it doesn’t make a difference; she does not change just because I think about her. But when I get flowers for my wife, she changes: her mood improves, she seems happier and fusses over me. I don’t understand the phenomenon. But I don’t have to understand it to use it.

Meditating on my character assets and defects, thinking about them, is good, but it does not make a difference; I don’t seem to change.

A mental toting of my pluses and minuses does not work nearly as well as a written inventory. The currents and eddies of my mind confuse assets and liabilities. My memory will play tricks and reframe things that caused harm, to be good. However, pen-to-paper prevents all this, and my character assets stand out in contrast to defects; seeing the words on the page, my memory cannot play tricks and games with my character. With pen-to-paper, I change. I see things clearly. When I write an inventory, my defects and assets leap off the page, and the process triggers change.

Like flowers for my wife, I don’t understand the phenomenon. But like flowers for my wife, I don’t have to understand it to use it.

And neither flowers nor pen-to-paper seem like big things compared to the results obtained.

Stopping to purchase flowers is not a big job; once I get started, it is a small thing. Watching my wife prune the stems, change the water in the vase and fuss with the arrangement of the flowers reminds me of the mystery and brings me great joy.

Taking up my pen and applying to paper, working on a written inventory is easy, once I get started, it is a small thing. Seeing my character unfold on the paper reminds me of the mystery and experiencing the changes to come, always brings me great joy.

Flowers and pen-to-paper don’t have to be understood but must be applied.