A month before my entire department was laid off in early 2020 (the very same week lockdown occurred 🤦🏽♂️), I received a nice award from the company for a year-long project that I was involved in. The award was a nice glass photo frame, two pieces of glass that have magnets inside, with the award inserted in between. It was a nice award, and I was proud of what I had helped to accomplish, but of course looking back the award was kind of meaningless after the events of 2020. I was, needless to say, a little bitter.
Then, a week ago, my daughter gave me some simple advice: use the frame for something else, and toss out the award.
So, I did:
I took some of the plum blossoms outside that were scattered on the ground, and pressed them between the glass frames and this is the result. It felt great to re-use this frame for something more positive and less depressing, and a small way to reclaim a part of my life that had been taken away.
More importantly, it was a nice way to make something beautiful out of adversity. 😄
Gleanings in Buddha-Fields 