When Lilacs Bloom

Cheryl Wilson

March 21, 2023

As I get up from the floor, I find it is harder to bounce up and my knees hurt and I think… I am old. How did I get here it was as if I blinked for a moment and I was old.

I think it started last year when I had a physical event that left me feeling like I was not as in control of my health as I had always been. I felt so vulnerable and it started me on this downward spiral that I let my mind go to until I just felt old.

Then I started acting old and as each new physical thing that happened, I said, “Yep,” see, I am old!! Woe is me…

So, I started on this journey asking God to talk to me about trust in this season of my time. He softly spoke to me saying, child, every day matters…. stop fretting and allow me to show you what I have for you during this season.

Isaiah 46:4 says “Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”

Had I read those verses before!! I am sure I did, but skipped merrily over them as they did not apply to me, I was not in that season of time.

How can we lean into God as we age, trusting that every day matters, and not allow fear to rob us of our joy of each day we are meant to be here on this earth. Yes, I might have to adjust some of my mindset to allow age to happen, but to allow my joy to turn into fear!! NO, I refuse to allow this to happen.

Fearing the unknown for me has always been a challenge, but as I age this fear of the unknown might grow stronger, I need to prepare for that. Getting older and having to learn to deal with a growing list of new restrictions brings a fear of loss of control. Maybe my bodies will not be able to do what it once could; or my memory is less sharp as it once was, or I find I need more help than I used to.

But what I do know is my lilac bush is still going to bloom this spring and bring that sweet smelling fragrance to my kitchen. It is up to me to cut some of those blooms from their branches, bring them inside and allow those sweet blooms to make me smile!!

I am going to walk among the flower beds, laugh at the future because I remember who’s holding it all.

Confidence

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Cheryl Wilson

I paint intuitively by embracing spontaneity to allow passionate paintings to be born through a transforming layering process of acrylics and inks. Each layer informs the next story of paint. In addition to layers often you will find sand, coffee, glass beads or perhaps even a gum wrapper invoking the question of what story is being revealed. I paint what I feel, how I feel, and each found object in my art continues that story. It is my hope that you find a connection to my work and might, if only for a moment, become captivated and feel something within yourself. The art I create are visual expressions of my inner soul, spirit and passion. Once a corporate entrepreneur trapped inside a suit and wearing heels, the desire to put my feelings, thoughts, and emotions on canvas became too powerful. The life-changing event that turned the corporate pen into a paintbrush was the dark world of Alzheimer’s that struck my mother. I could not wait any longer to paint in the event that world captured me as well. Leaving the boardroom behind, what has emerged is a new language expressed on canvas. This language expresses the freedom and unbound passion to create and let my art direct itself without fear or influences that has previously stifled my intuitive style. Constantly moving around the world, staying in one place no longer than three years at one time, living in the back of a musician’s studio, provided the opportunity to meet vast numbers of different people from all walks of life. These experiences set the canvas for the style of abstracts I paint because I find these people, locations, and experiences are represented in each painting in some way.

One response to “When Lilacs Bloom”

Mary Morgan

March 21, 2023 at 5:52 pm

I love this blog post, it is so very true. I’m there right with you. God is faithful he will sustain us until he takes us home.

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"An Artist's Walk with God"