Spring! The shorter the season, the more brilliant and beautiful it is.

Spring! The shorter the season, the more brilliant and beautiful it is.

​There is always something to look forward to when spring comes. They are beautiful tulips blooming from 50 bulbs given to me by my friendly next door neighbor, Michelle. My husband buried these tulips, spaced 30 centimeters apart, deep in the freezing ground before early spring. And ever since he planted these tulips, my garden has been a beautiful sight every spring.

Our tulips come in a sort of shapes and come in a variety of colors including red, pink, white and yellow. It's so beautiful that joggers and walkers passing by my house stop and look at it. Every spring, the tulips given by Michelle bring great joy to many visitors and passers-by. I sometimes think that our tulips are more beautiful and impressive than the tulips in the tulip parks I visited in the Netherlands.

This is what Michelle said when she gave me this tulip bulb. “Anna, the shape of the bulb is the same, but when it turns into a flower, no one can tell what color or shape it will be.” Since I heard that, I waited for the flower to bloom with strong curiosity and anticipation. And I quickly learned that Michelle was right. Tulips must be buried deep in frozen ground before spring arrives. The firmer the ground, the fresher and more beautiful the tulips that come up through the ground. Before I knew it, I was looking forward to spring. 

Spring is a dazzling season. In a world where everything seems to have frozen and disappeared, spring seems to be trying to show the beauty and warm that never disappear. In the spring, the turtles in the pond on campus where I always walk dry in the warm spring sunlight. Birds sing in unison with various sounds and the fish in the pond wake up.

Spring is clearly a wizard who announces the birth of new life and wakes up everything dead in the world. In the spring, I always take pictures of the cherry blossoms on campus while I walk. It's the same color and shape, but the feeling is different every year. When I feel the spring breeze and the warm spring sunlight, the gloomy darkness in my heart seems to be lifted. So when spring comes, I become diligent without even realizing it. I clean for no reason and go for walks often. I frequently open the window and become busy taking in the beauty around me. And there is a reason for this busyness.

That's because this beautiful and brilliant spring is so short. The beautiful tulips that make my heart flutter will one day drop their brilliant petals to the ground. And I'll have to wait until next spring. Because of this brilliant and short time, the wait will be deep and earnest.

As I turned 50, another change occurred to me. It means that I no longer struggle to understand what I used to struggle to tolerate. In the past, I understood that people said hurtful and harsh words to me. I tried to understand people who lacked metacognition, were inconsiderate, and had no manners, tried to understand their situation, understand their environment, and treated them leniently even when they were like that. But at some point, I realized that all of that was pointless.

The most important thing is the present I live in, and the most precious thing is me and my loved ones. When I encounter an energy vampire who steals my heart away from enjoying the beautiful cherry blossoms, I no longer try to understand or tolerate them like I used to, but I keep my distance from them. Because I realized how harmful it is to lose love for the nature and life around us.

​And every day, I try to maintain my routine of drawing, spending precious time with the beauty around me, talking with loved ones. I no longer put my energy into other things. And if possible, I will try to conserve my energy and draw as much as possible. And I know this is what I need to do. I have so many pictures to draw this year. First, I need to draw three strong images that come to mind. Once these paintings are completed, I will feature them again on this blog. I hope to present another new painting before this spring passes.