I hear you, William

I wandered lonely as a cloud, in our local grocery store, when all at once I saw a crowd, a host of golden daffodils…

Okay I will stop ruining Wordsworth for you. While the likelihood of my wandering around the English countryside during a regular weekday may be low, the lonely as a cloud part is real. Grocery stores seem to bring out a sense of disconnect in me. No offence to them or the people who enjoy shopping there, I generally spend my trips wondering what I’m doing there. I mean I have a list; it’s more of a metaphysical question, along the lines of I could be so many other places. So on seeing bunches of sunny daffodils in an overall grey setting, my rapture was pretty close to that of our friend. Humour aside, the effect they had on me was quite profound.

I have found myself since, gazing at them, carrying the vase with me from room to room, wanting to keep them close. Flowers generally evoke this sort of childlike delight in me but the daffodils are taking it to another level. I am showing off on whatsapp sharing photos of them, repeatedly asking family members to appreciate their loveliness. What is really happening here, I have to ask myself.

A childhood favourite, for me yellow has always stood for celebration, for the sun, for spring, for life bursting forth. It may be their fragrance, they smell verdant, fresh and alive. All this euphoria could be pointing to a growing awareness. To opening to life and towards a deepening of its experience.

I have been talking about moving towards stillness since my book was launched; what I now understand more clearly is that this stillness leads not just to becoming more available to life but to engaging with it in our fullest capacity.

Whatever we give our attention and time to thrives and flourishes. Now imagine bringing that same focus to every aspect of life, can you envision what it would look like? Hopefully we wont have to. We’ll be knee deep in daffodil bliss.

 

 

Best
Afshan x