Lesson From The Ephemerals

Trout Lily

I was finishing up a mandala class with approximately thirty-five elementary school children a few years ago when the principal walked in to see what the students had made. The kids' designs were so beautiful and the woman was full of praise for their designs. When she realized that the art was ephemeral and would be taken apart, however, her tone changed and she asked sadly, "You mean they don't get to keep them?" Ugh! The kids didn't seem at all upset about taking them apart! Thankfully, before the vibe of the room was able to change, I said something spontaneous that I have now thought about time and time again. "Well," I said, "You have to believe that tomorrow you can make something just as beautiful." Looking back, that statement has helped me when a twinge of melancholy creeps in about the passing of time or changes in life.

I have been traveling to one of my favorite New England paths anticipating the spring ephemerals - those early little wildflowers that appear, bloom, and seed before the leaf canopy develops. Trout Lily (above), Cowslip, Spring Beauty, Violet . . . This year they have been slow to appear, or perhaps I am just more anxious leaving a winter that seemed unusually stubborn to leave. This weekend, some of them were blooming!

The thing about the spring ephemerals is that although they are not here long, I don't feel sad about them passing. I know that they will be back. The certainty of the seasons is a beautiful and comforting thing. They will pass but be replaced by bigger, bolder flowers. In the meantime, between March and May here in New England, I will visit these little beauties!

It ties back into the principal's causal comment and disappointment in empemeral art. I have created and photographed probably close to three thousand ephemeral mandalas so far, reusing many of the objects over and over again. When I spontaneously started, I made a new nature mandala each day for one thousand connective days. Imagine if I had stopped with the first one not wanting to take it apart?

We can believe that there is something just as beautiful tomorrow. We can find beauty in change! It is possible to look at the beauty of the moment without the twinge of melancholy knowing that there will be something just as beautiful tomorrow.

Now, all the being said, go out and find beauty and perhaps even some spring ephemerals!