indigo pears

October is a bittersweet month


October’s child is born for woe,
And life’s vicissitudes must know
But lay an Opal on her breast,
And hope will lull those woes to rest.


Traditional English rhyme

This rhyme came from Pips' Almanac today, I was not overjoyed to read this. I am an October child. So I decided to read some defintitions.

woe n.
1. Deep distress or misery, as from grief; wretchedness. synonym: regret.
2. Misfortune; calamity: economic and political woes.
interj.

vicissitude n.
a : a favorable or unfavorable event or situation that occurs by chance : a fluctuation of state or condition b : a difficulty or hardship attendant on a way of life, a career, or a course of action and usually beyond one's control c : alternating change


(one thing about the English, those rhymes stretch one's vocabulary!)
The "woe" would have described me as a teenager...I was pretty morose in those days...but I grew out of it!
Vicissitude is a new word for me, but I have come to recognize that things do change constantly, and this is not always bad!

Let's see about "hope"...(from Wikipedia)
Hope is a belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one's life. Hope implies a certain amount of perseverance— i.e., believing that a positive outcome is possible even when there is some evidence to the contrary.

After reading this and mulling it over a bit, I read Lowell Grisham's "Morning Reflections" to which I subscribe. After the bible readings were discussed, Lowell had added this quote:

Have low expectations and high hopes. Have low expectations of people so you don't force them directly or indirectly to meet certain anticipations you might have as to how they should or should not respond to you and your actions. But have high hopes for them based on a ruthless faith in God that something good, something dear and beautiful will come of it if you are looking and listening with an open heart.

Forgive yourself and other people for their defensiveness. Being cautious is natural for faithless and hopeless persons -- and we all fall into this category more or less.

Be as open as possible to being surprised by the encounter. In other words, we must not look for our god and reactions that we feel would be important and right. We must position ourselves instead to see whatever we will see amidst the joy, pain, apathy, anxiety, peace, depression, or tension we experience. When we are truly open, we will be surprised by something in the encounter. And that surprise -- that unique presence of God -- can be called by another name: holiness. (from Robert J. Wicks, "Living Simply in an Anxious World")



This is the perfect reading/reflection after that rather discouraging Traditional English Rhyme! I see hope mentioned again, and also the idea of being OPEN.

I remember the poem "Having Come This Far" with the line"my book is an open life" by James Broughton. Being open, having hope ( and faith and charity!) is how I hope to encounter life this October!

[ watercolor painting "Bittersweet for Julie" by Lila]