Photo Journal: Reflecting on Age and Beauty
It’s widely know that Amsterdammers love their bicycles (I’ve had my trusty, rusty omafiets since 2009!) But Amsterdam is also a perfect city to explore on foot.
On Saturdays, I like to stroll down the block to visit our neighborhood flower stand and pick up a fresh bouquet of colorful seasonal blooms. It’s a simple treat that brings me joy and sometimes during the dreaded cold season, it’s my motivation to pop out for some fresh air.
This particular Saturday was October 27. The day that what would have been my sweet Granny’s 101st birthday. To celebrate her birthday, each year, my mom and I would order my grandmother a beautiful bouquet filled to the brim with her favorite seasonal delights like bright berries, autumn leaves, and flowers in a rich autumnal palette…
Granny passed away last summer just shy of her 100th birthday and when that day arrived without her, I was heartbroken… yet something inside. still felt still inspired to continue our tradition. It stings knowing that I can’t share the colorful life I’ve built here in Amsterdam with her but I’ll continue to celebrate her life with a flourishing bouquet that I know she would have loved.
This year’s bouquet dried beautifully with ever fragrant eucalyptus so, I decided. to hang on to it a while longer. As the flowers withered, new textures and colors emerged, which inspired me to create.
It’s human nature to resist aging, growing older inevitably leads to our demise. But with age, a new layer of beauty also unfolds. Change is the only constant, so we may as well try to embrace it every step of the way and find something positive, even in tough circumstances.
“Youth is the gift of nature, but age is a work of art.”
