How do you see flowers? Symbol of hope, beauty?

Sometimes I get tired. I’m at work most days around 6 am and toil away until 4 pm, and then toddle off home in my little Kermit Green Kia Picanto. I down a quick cuppa and have a chat with my wife Lena, and we head off, most days to our local gym and swimming pool. I do a pretty passive gym session, and then join Lena in the pool. I have never been able to swim, but for the purpose of weight control, weight loss, whatever we call it. You know, that thing that skinny people never have problems with, being over-weight, I’m learning. My biggest problem appears to be keeping my mouth shut, and organising my breathing as to inhaling water rather than air, but I am determined and, having lost 5 kg in six weeks, I am beginning to reap the benefits. After that, I’m certainly mentally rejuvenated, but of course, physically tired. Consequently, I’m probably not a lot of fun in the evenings, but I have no shortage of things to do. Luckily, well maybe nothing to do with luck, Lena is a good cook, and her ‘healthy option’ evening meals are a great mid-evening feature. Strangely, the first few steps each morning do seem a bit lack-lustre. Then, of course, I realise that I’m on top of the ground, which may or may not be a surprise, but is certainly good news, and after a shower, shave and a bowl of cereal, I toddle back to the office and happily immerse myself in my job. Among the absolute ‘joys’ of my week are the short story, literature classes I have at 8 am, three days a week, where we develop not only a literary appreciation, but also personalities, and personal qualities enabling and empowering a group of young Omanis. In reviewing a literature portfolio this week, presented by Jokha Salim Ali al Farsi, I was struck by the manner in which the student has embraced the expression of her thoughts in her second language. So, I asked her permission to use it this week, very lightly edited for clarity. This is as gentle, colourful and unobtrusive as a Bougainvillea flower, yet as charming. Read on… “Sometimes, the beauty of life is heading in the very simple, cheap things we have, but as human beings we are always looking for something which we do not have, something expensive, or something difficult to get. Flowers are good example of the beauty of life. They are very cheap and we can find them everywhere. We should give our attention to the taste, the beauty of life, and we should give flowers in particular, our attention. God did not create flowers for nothing, and there are many great purposes behind the presence of flowers in our lives. Some see flowers as a symbol of hope, while others see them as love, and yet others as beauty and tenderness. I see them as life, optimism and something as beautiful as the morning. Some psychiatrists consider flowers as treatment, having a strong effect on our state of mind, and helping us to be in a good mood. In the end, buy some flowers in a colour that you love, for yourself, or another, and make your life as beautiful as flowers were made to be.” So there it is. A little gem of a piece that reflects so well upon its author. Its simplicity and nature are so clear that visualising the flowers she writes of evoked such clarity, peace and humility. It’s written with an economy of vocabulary, such simplicity, that Jokha must have been in a good place in her life, when she wrote it, and as such, encourages us to see the flowers. Ray Petersen petersen_ray@hotmail.com