Spring In Winter

Lately, the economy has been the topic everywhere. There is a fear that we are in the dark winter and don't know how long the winter would last. It reminds me "Spring In Winter", the store I wrote and the arrangement I made two years ago.

Here is the original Spring In Winter:

The Saturday two weeks ago (11-18-2006), I had coffee with my dear friend Mike. We haven’t seen each other for long time, we updated each other. We talked about Happy Monday and Mike asked if I would do anything special to celebrate the upcoming one year anniversary. I was not sure. I had no plan and no time to plan one.

The following Monday, I received an email from a reader, she wrote: “I very much admire your passion and devotion to what I view as a hobby; it must mean so much to you.” I replied to her: “There was no specific reason when I wrote the very first one. I was just so moved by how much impact flowers could do to a person, I was in the mood and had to write. The responses for my writing from readers were great, so I kept writing. I was late twice, readers emailed me to ask where is the Happy Monday. I could not stop since there are readers ‘biting their nails, and waiting (one reader told me that)'. I just keep up.”

Now when I look back myself, I realized that I have been benefited from the writing and learned a lot along the way. The most important lesson I learned is the life attitude, to be open minded and be gratitude, I learned and I was touched by life every day. I share what I learned and what moved me, then I learned more and I was touched more from your feedbacks. I truly appreciate that you gave me the needed push to keep me record and share my life journey with you. Without readers, there will be no Happy Monday.

This Friday night, I learned that my friend Eve passed her thesis defense of her master degree. She had been working on her degree for about three years. It was not easy. She works full time and takes care of her elder parents at the same time. She had lots of support from her friends and coworkers. Friday morning, her coworkers hosted a rehearsal for her, that was when the whole group faced re-org, her coworkers were not sure about their own future. After the rehearsal, everyone in the team wished her good luck and sent her on her way. They had waited in the office until she passed and called with the good news.

I was deeply touched by the story and am happy for Eve, I went to farmer’s market Sunday noon and found irises to make her celebration arrangement. Iris is a typical Spring flower, spring signals new life and new beginning, Spring is the hope. There is no better suitable flower than spring flower for the celebration. I arranged flowers backward in basic style to prepare myself for the future teaching. When I finished, I turned it 180 degrees to have the if face me. I critiqued and corrected, then pulled all stems out, tried second time. When I finished second time of practice and looked at the arrangement, I realized that this process mirrors the life process. We gave our best to accomplish something, when we look back, we review if there is any way to improve, when we have new opportunity, we restart the process again. There was no better way to celebrate Happy Monday's anniversary than this – back to the basic and start over again.

I gave the arrangement to Eve Sunday night. She will take the arrangement to the office to share with her coworkers on Monday. No matter what the outcome is to her group, I wish “spring in winter (I titled the arrangement)” will bring Eve and everyone in the group a new beginning and best future.

Enjoy the arrangement and Happy Monday!

In Friendship through Flowers,
Yirou
(12-03-2006).

On Monday morning, Eve emailed her team members:

Dear Team,

As you might have already known, I have successfully passed my master defense last Friday. When Frank told me that last Friday you had waited in the office until I called to report the good news, I was very touched. I felt that I was not doing this degree alone. During the last 3 years of my study, you have given me numerous supports in many ways. I know I can't possibly achieve my goal without these supports. Thank you so much for everything!

The following email is from my friend Yirou (Eve attached above Happy Monday), who sends out Happy Monday email letters weekly to share her thoughts and art works in flower arrangement. This week, her flower arrangement is titled "Spring in Winter", which is sitting on the table in my office.

Enjoy!

Sincerely,
Eve

There was a good news second day. Eve's group has been stabilized. There was no lay offs at the near future. They had a new manager whom they like and trust very much. I knew their new manager, Frank, he is a very respectful person, he is also a Happy Monday reader, here is his email to me:

Thanks for the nice write up about Eve and our group. I like the title, "Spring in Winter". The sun is always shining and life is always green!

Best wishes to everybody!

Frank

Frank concluded in his email. In this economy, the endings may not be as happy as the one with Eve's group, however, the Spring, the warmth and the caring mind among the people, is always there, even in the darkest winter.

Enjoy the arrangement picture and Happy Monday!

In Friendship through Flowers,
Yirou.
(1-04-2009)

本文有中文版。