Burning bright means finishing with a flourish. It means finishing even better than you began. You can give the last bit of yourself reluctantly, almost begrudgingly. You do it because you need to. Or, you can give like you've been waiting for this moment. You can rush with open hands towards the relief of being empty It's going to be hard either way, but your given a choice for the "how" of it. You can either burn or you can burn bright.
The tulips remind me of that, this time of year. As they finish, they're more fearless than in the beginning It's a last burning moment before their season is done. Now, they're absolutely ablaze with ending.
I needed this as I finish my last 3 months of grad work. This is the time for wrapping up my field project and my thesis and I'm reluctant about it right now. But I wanted to do this and I need to rush to it with open arms and give it all I have.
ReplyDeleteThanks girl.
Jackie, you know I'm in the same place finishing up my first year of grad school. Everything feels all muddled and incomplete and somehow "less than" I wanted it to be when I started these projects. The important thing is just to go for it, you know? just give everything you've got in the end and let that burning make it beautiful (or as beautiful as it can be). I'm rooting for you! xo
DeleteTulips are beautiful mostly because they last for such a short while. But boy, are they not ashamed to shine as brightly as possible in their short lived lives. :) Love your writing as always.
ReplyDeleteI was just talking about this in a Yoga class I was teaching! "Burning bright" and shining bright: moving, reaching and yielding to challenge and surprise ourselves. Taking a fuller, deeper breath to support that final "moment." And once we get through the posture (or the semester) we've got the experience, the burn, under our belts. So we know what it feels like and we can use it as a resource to shine bright and stay bright.
ReplyDeleteStay bright Sam!
Layla, I actually picked up "burn bright" from my yoga studio here! They're always saying it when my quads are almost literally burning and I think it's such a good motto for finishing anything. I tried to write about it to start this and it basically just sounded like "yoga is hard?!" ... yours is so much more poetic. you NAILED it, the difference between burning and burning bright is using the struggle as a resource. Thank you for that!
DeleteTulips are the most fascinating flower to me (by the way, one of the reasons why this blog caught my eye was your Instagram photo on the left of that tulip).
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I remember when my father was in the hospital and I would sit with him for hours, someone brought in tulips in a vase. For the next five days, I would write in my journal next to those tulips. They were so pretty and perfect looking- not a blemish on them. One day, I tapped one of the petals and the whole thing completely fell apart. I was shocked; they had died long ago but didn't look like it at all.
I thought a lot about that in regards to life and I think you're completely right. They hold on to the very end. They don't wilt, they hold their integrity, and they allow people to enjoy them just a little longer.
Beautiful photos. Not sure I've ever looked at them the way you described them.
ReplyDelete