“The soul would have no rainbows if the eyes had no tears.” Laurel Burch
This quote is on a mug that I purchased from Amazon shortly after Sam died. During those first few difficult months, I gave myself permission to buy little, what for me were, “luxury items” as comforts for my soul, I suppose.
I do have several Laurel Burch mugs and hadn’t seen them since we moved here. The beauty of the image on this one initially drew me in and, even more importantly for me, the writing in the center of the mug was a reminder of tears… that tears are ok. Only I wasn’t doing much crying, permission or not. So that’s the story behind my having introduced the quote to our [writing] group today…
“Rainbows, I’m forever chasing,” I stated the other day when I went chasing a beautiful rainbow (to photograph) after a violent thunderstorm. It seems to me that perhaps the most beautiful rainbows come after turbulent storms rather than gentle rains.
Does my soul, thus, need turbulence to have rainbows in it? Does it need to have the tears to create whatever combination creates a rainbow? Beautiful colors? Shapes? Purity?
(and the 4 minute timer called the end….Interestingly, for me, the next prompt somewhat continued the “conversation.”)
“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass… It’s about learning to stand in the rain.” – Anonymous
This one brings up immediate memories… tearful ones now…of the hurricane of a couple of years ago. I recently came across photos of Sam sitting in my closet… me, too, when I got back in to join him after taking the photo. Close and secure, the two of us, as we waited for the hurricane and its threats to pass over.
Though we weren’t physically standing in the rain we were going with it, no protest, simply enjoying being with one another and whatever was going on… at least I’d like to think there was no fear there.
The effects of that hurricane left us powerless… in electricity that is.. for several days. And we got to appreciate being in the present. Instead of complaining I treasured the time for reading, resting, eating gooshy strawberries that had defrosted and were still cold when I took them out of the cooler.
How glad I was to have Sam with me, my companion, my lover, and, I guess we were learning to stand in the rain of our lives over several years… the rain being the effects of Parkinson’s disease on him and, thus, us.
PS – For cheer when I bought the Rainbow Soul mug I also bought Laurel Burch’s Ponies and Parrots mug from Amazon –
Final note on this post – Having created a miraculous life of beauty and love with her art and color and entrepreneurship, despite constant pain and broken bones, Laurel Burch sadly passed away (2 months and 8 days before Sam’s death) on Sept. 13, 2007 at the age of 61.
See her spirit and process in a 6-minute VIDEO interview with her. You can also read about her life in The New York Times – Obituary – Sept. 20, 2007.
NOTE: The two Laurel Burch mugs shown here are long longer available. You can find other beautiful ones on LAUREL BURCH MUGS on AMAZON .
First published on Sept 1, 2009. Updated December 7, 2019
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Evocative writing, Sheila.
Grateful you shared it.
Thanks so much, Julie. I appreciate your acknowledgment.
Thank you Shelia for your Inspiration and for sharing the link to Laura Burches 6 Minute Video clip. I am in awe.
Just thought you should know even after these many months your creative action is touching lives in unexpected ways.
Karen,
Thanks so much for sharing this. It’s always great to be acknowledged and appreciated.
Sheila,
You are very fortunate to have had Sam in your life. I hope you can be a lot more there than thinking on the loss. That’s the BEST medicine I know.
All the Best Racheli
Thanks for visiting , commenting and your kind wishes, Racheli. Yes, I am/was blessed to have Sam in my life for 47 1/2 years. This post was written over a year ago. I am in a writers’ group and was moved to suggest the “Tears” quote as a prompt for one of our 4-minutes writing exercises. My response was interesting to me, since I never know what will flow when I start writing to prompts. I don’t even think Sam was on my conscious mind when I started writing.
And, when he does come to my conscious thoughts, I rarely dwell on the loss as such. I usually find a creative action and/or other way to experience and share him and his talents. I am also blessed with the fact that he often expressed himself beautifully in words. I have man of his notes that often seem to appear at just the “right time.”
Appreciatively, Sheila
Beautiful, Sheila. Thanks so much for sharing your words and heart with us so eloquently. Sending much love, Linda
Thanks for the appreciation and acknowledgement, Linda. Sending much love back to you.
{ 1 trackback }