Purple, the color of royalty and spirituality, also a color of mourning for the many Eastern Orthodox Christians who consider Good Friday the day of mourning for both the Lord Jesus and those who have passed on, as the next day is the Sabbath and the celebration of LIFE, and the resurrection to the afterlife. Thus, why I chose to bring lavender as an offering from our Spring Garden.

Lavender is a medicinal herb, can be a tea ☕️ (many health benefits, but not to be drunk by pregnant women or young boys) made into delicious candies, crushed into sachets to ward off moths and mosquitoes, and used for stress reduction as its strong smell and pressed oil is often preferred by massage therapists and others. Even by the bees 🐝!

Step by step crutch by crutch I was determined to make my “march” after 2 months of being almost exclusively at home due to a broken foot. It felt like a 2nd Covid lockdown but as Dr. Ed Tick said, perhaps 🤔 it was a mere “next step” into another life phase. There were low days, days of anger at my predicament, of relying on others, of being “forgotten” but this was self-pity which can be refined to a more realistic stoic philosophy, in increasing one’s resilience. And as Saint Paul preached to the Corinthians … love is patient, love is kind — best showcased with the beautifully sung hymns of Petros Gaitanos.

Those in midlife who look forward to their next 50 years can offer good advice to younger generations, for all who will listen. We need to take life’s “crumbs” to make something out of them, for ourselves, our children and our future generations. This is one of the 5 life rules that well-esteemed actor Michael McConaughey gave to graduates:

Poems about new beginnings and the Resurrection, offer life perspective, Spring comes to give us for new and renewed energy.
Transcendental poet John Donne wrote “The Good-Morrow” to hail the brief dream he had of his love (read it on Poetry Foundation site). Let’s heed these lessons for Good Morrows are yet to be born my friends! 🙏🏼