Give Me My Flowers...
Give me my flowers before I die.
Say all those things you've been meaning to say but you're holding inside.
Don't wait till it's too late and the parade has gone by.
- Opening Lyrics of Give Me My Flowers by Pat Murphy and Tim Clark
which I had the privilege of hearing sung by "Up with People" in Richmond, IN, Fall 1991
When I was in high school, we had the opportunity to host a student traveling with the musical group "Up With People" for a few days. We saw their show and I still remember part of the lyrics to their opening song - and the song quoted above.
I don't know why that song stuck with me. The words might not seem uplifting to some people - but to me - they always have been. The words are, to me, about showing gratitude and kindness and telling people what they mean to you and saying the things to them that you want to make sure they know and hear - directly from you.
I have a lot of flowers in the house right now - between Ashley's wedding centerpieces - a few of which made it home with me, the flowers I got from my friend Jill on my birthday or my orchids - of which two are currently blooming nicely - so I knew last night was going to have to include a floral photo shoot.
But then yesterday afternoon I was working on my brainstorming list for Me: The Abridged Version - a memory keeping class I'm taking (and vowing to complete) over at Big Picture Classes - and something came to me. Before I can tell you what that was, I should tell you a little about the class. The goal of the class is to create a scrapbook with entries about yourself for every letter of the alphabet. You can also do the album about another person or a couple...the themes are Me, You, and Us...I just decided it would be a good marker here as I start my 40th year to create, as our teacher - the amazing Cathy Zielske calls it - "a time capsule of who I am right now".
So, if I'm creating a time capsule of who I am right now, that should include one or two - or ten - or twenty stories from my friends, my family, or perhaps a friend I haven't yet met who happens to stumble on and read my blog. So - and if you've made it this far - you must love me - what came to me is to ask you for input. I'm asking you my readers to share a quote, a word, a phrase, a story, or a moment that makes you think of me or that you think describes me - starting with any letter of the alsphabet. In short - what would you put in a time capsule about me right now? If you have something to share you can put it in the comments below or on Facebook or Twitter or Instagram - or you can even drop a note in email - or dare I even say snail mail still gets delivered to my house nearly every day.
If you don't know me well enough to offer me insight - or just can't think of anything you want to share - that's okay too. I encourage you instead to take this as a nudge from the universe to share something special with someone else who isn't expecting it (or asking in a public plea for inspiration ;-) I always think of fall as a time for gratitude and kindness so give someone the flowers (literal or figurative) you've been thinking about giving them!
P.S: If you want to join me in Cathy's class the link in the text above is a referral link. You can also use referral code 49E317F3 at check out. If you do - we both get 10% off our next class after you sign up. If you don't like referral links that's completely okay - just head over to www.bigpictureclasses.com - the class is called Me: The Abridged Version. Registration is open until October 15. If now isn't a good time, the great thing about Big Picture is you get forever access so you can purchase the class now while it's available and then come back and do the album at any time that works for you.