I wish I could have taken a screenshot to capture the image.
The first thing I saw was a dancing figurine, black on white, beautiful in its movement, stunning in how it held structure and form, firm yet fluid.
Then I asked my client about what it meant to her (it often opens interesting doors to inquire about a piece of art in the background of their Zoom window) and as she told me, I could clearly see the decaying flower: a rose in its last stage of life – still full of the same beauty that had initially struck me, albeit perhaps suffering to another observer.
I won’t get into the rather moving back story, but what I can say is that it was an ode to appreciating beauty at every stage of the life cycle.
I thought of my colleague Pier’s book and how he offered a positive-existential exploration of our life span. My client thought about her career (which was the reason she had come for coaching), a reminder that there’s beauty in this stage where she’s reassessing her path, and that this is nothing to be ashamed of.
We reflected on how some flowers, and some careers, bloom once in their life span, others seasonally. And most depend on how you treat them, and what care and attention they receive. Environment matters. Love matters. Resources matter. Putting the work in matters.
And yes, sometimes it’s important to prune elements that have become dead weight and suck vital resources. It never ceases to amaze me how a simple image can help us reposition ourselves towards something that we found difficult to accept, to help us be more at peace in the face of struggle and challenge.
What’s the image or metaphor that you need in your life at the moment, I wonder…?
With Love
Yannick
