Beauty Notes: On Flowers, Mostly
— We recently watched Flowers, a Basque film. It’s described thusly: “Three women's lives intertwine when a tragic event jolts their lives into a new reality, and brings with it the delivery of anonymous flowers.” In the end, I think the flowers are a major character in the film, living, dying, allowing for hope, drawing light, holding sorrow, the unknown, mysteries. It’s a very slow moving arty film and I happen to love slow moving arty films, even more so these days. It might not be perfect but maybe that’s precisely what draws one in.
— I have so often quoted Hélène Cixous on flowers, but I will here again: “for we have always known that flowers are women, we have all lived one or two flowers.”
“We have all lived one or two flowers.”
— I’ve been thinking about flower deliveries, about that line by Leonard Cohen, how he says, “When hatred with his package comes, you forbid delivery.” As an antidote to hatred, deliver flowers.
— I’ve been thinking about a recent post by the treasure that is Rebecca Solnit. She linked us up to this post by Anand Giridharadas, where he says, “I believe what we’re witnessing is a particular expression of authoritarianism that is fixated on unpopular ideas, chaotically executed, and often very dumb. I believe this is a highly defeatable form of authoritarianism.”
— This is the original post by Anand Giridharadas on his blog, The.Ink. He says, “The best revenge against these grifters and bigots and billionaires and bullies is to live well, richly, together.” And he says:
“Because having, and nurturing, in your life a sphere for joy and connection and community and love and food and music and human difference and living and letting live is everything they are not and is everything they are trying to take away.
Be what scares them. Live lives in colors their eyes can’t even see. Cook food they want to deport. Test the fire code with your parties. Form a scene that meets every Wednesday. Call someone you haven’t in a while. Fight with a smile. Fail and come back. Be weird. Be welcoming. Kiss converts. Refuse despair. Be disobedient. Laugh loudly. Hide someone. Call out. Root down.
They are waging a war on living. The more fully you live, the harder their job will be.”
— Another film we watched recently (found it on Kanopy) is Living with Bill Nighy and Aimee Lou Wood. Both are amazing in it, unsurprisingly. It’s based on Akira Kurosawa’s film, Ikiru, and the screenwriter is Kazuo Ishiguro. The Kurosawa was inspired by The Death of Ivan Ilyich, by Tolstoy. So that might make it seem like it would be pretentious or something, but it’s just very relatable, deeply moving, and such a generous and real reminder to live. Live fully, now, and do not wait to hear you have six months to live.
— I’d honestly not heard of Etel Adnan before reading a post last year on my favourite poetry blog by Devin Kelley titled Ordinary Plots. Who knows what rock I live under :) I ended up underlining half of The Spring Flowers Own which begins:
“The morning after
my death
we will sit in cafes
but I will not
be there
I will not be”
— “flowers do not grow on rifles” she says. And, “flowers triumph / over the human race / their tragedies are / short-lived.” And:
“It is not because spring
is too beautiful
that we’ll not write what
happens in the dark.”
— I was feeling rather worn out this morning and came upon a reel on Instagram by Sheniz and it gave me a real feeling of uplift — this reminder of the importance of colour.
— “Enemies are energizing but that fuel is short-lasting.” C.D. Wright said that. Flowers are also energizing. Planning your garden is energizing. This year, I plan on putting in extra dahlias and hollyhocks so I can give more away. Already imagining the random acts of flowers that I’ll be able to do.
