this is the recipe of life
said my mother
as she held me in her arms as i wept
think of those flowers you plant
in the garden each year
they will teach you
that people too
must wilt
fall
root
rise
in order to bloom
by rupi kaur
On a lockdown day that felt particularly hard going, my dear fellow-poetry-lover friend sent me this small poem by the Indian-born Canadian Sikh ‘Instapoet‘ rupi kaur. Although she’s only in her late twenties, she’s published three bestselling books of poetry which she’s also illustrated, and has millions of followers on her Instagram account. I guess her words strike a chord with many!
This particular poem certainly hit a note in me, and linked into the feeling of missing my mum in Holland who I haven’t seen for way too long. It’s simple comfort and sense of hope moved me, and it also connects with the joy of early spring rising and blooming… I guess it comes back to radical acceptance and the paradoxical theory of change. As R.D. Laing says: “There is a great deal of pain in life and perhaps the only pain that can be avoided is the pain that comes from trying to avoid pain…”
Wilting and falling may just be part of the process, but at least let’s meet ourselves with much care and kindness in that process, and where possible, also allow others to hold us. And we can always rejoice in our compassionate motivation for the blooming of ourselves and others!
Images by rupi kaur