If It’s Only Temporary, Is It Worth It?

The Second Idea

I’d signed up for this session with Kia for a quiet get-away, a personal time of meditation in a small room with a few others before the bustle of the busy day ahead. It was listed as Flower Meditation. I had no idea what that would be. But sure, I’d try it.

The experience turned out to be as relaxing as advertised. (Read about it here: Dead Flowers Can Be Arranged, Too.)

But now it’s over. We’re finished. It’s almost 9 a.m. and I’m ready to dart out to my first scheduled class of the morning.

Yet something holds me back.

It’s Kia’s second idea. I linger to hear more.

Will This Look Weird?

When Kia had originally signed up to lead Flower Meditation as a bonus activity for the conference, she’d imagined offering it in the conference center itself. She’d hoped it would be in a convenient space where people could make a quick escape for an intentional break to catch their breath throughout the day, not in this tiny meeting room we were assigned in an obscure corner of the adjacent hotel at an early hour.

Nonetheless, she’d made it work.

And yet . . . she’s now sharing her larger vision with us. She thinks it might still work. She longs to offer respite to more people throughout the day.

She’s suggesting we pick up the leftover flowers, walk together to the conference center, and build a mandala in the middle of the lobby.

Hold on a minute, Kia. It’s one thing to sit quietly in a small room with a few other contemplatives like myself and construct our personal flower mandalas.

But to step uninvited into a huge space with people all around and do it there? What will people think? Won’t we draw too much unwanted attention? Won’t this seem weird?

It’s too late to say no.

Take a Seat on the Floor

The five of us gather the flowers into our arms. We walk through the hallway, down the elevator, and into the main lobby of McCormick Place, the largest conference center in Chicago and in the U.S.

Kia picks a spot in the center of the floor. We lay down our flowers. Then we sit on the floor together.

We start picking off the petals, then watch as Kia begins to reconfigure them artistically into a small circle, starting a collective mandala for us all to add on to.

I feel torn.

Part of me wants to participate in this spontaneous act of creating beauty on this early Saturday morning. But another part of me wants to step away from this spotlight and hurry away to my first class of the day.

I sit and participate for a few minutes, watching the time.

The lure of the classroom eventually wins me over. I thank Kia for introducing me to flower meditation, but I must leave. She and one other woman remain behind on the floor, building the mandala, as other participants rush to their next classes, too.

Look at the Mandala Now

After my class is over, I walk back through the lobby. But I have trouble finding Kia.

I finally see her, but just barely. She is still seated on the floor.

She is surrounded by people. A crowd has gathered. New people are now seated on the floor beside her, people that hadn’t been in our early-morning Flower Meditation session.

They, too, are tearing flower petals off the stems. They, too, are adding them to the larger and larger mandala that is growing in the middle of McCormick Place.

Kia has set up a box holding more petals. She written a note on it:

“You are welcome to add to this. It is dedicated to all of us.”

Some of the cleaning staff have even placed orange cones around the mandala to better protect it.

Those who don’t have time to sit and create still make time to stop and gaze in awe at the beautiful piece of art coming to life in this unexpected place in this unexpected way.

Kia explains to the passersby that this practice is soothing and healing. That anybody can do it. That it’s something they can recreate when they return home in their own spaces.

It’s not how Kia had planned it.

But she is getting to live out her greater vision for Flower Meditation after all. One flower petal at a time. One passerby at a time. She is providing rest, offering a space to breathe, even in the middle of a crowded mass of people, far removed from the tiny space we began in early this morning.

I pass by the mandala several more times as the day goes on. When time allows, I sit and add a few more petals myself.

And breathe a little deeper each time.

And the Next Day?

The next day, I pass through the lobby as I walk to my final class in the conference center. I look again for the mandala.

But of course it is gone. All the flower petals were swept away overnight. As we knew they would be. As we knew they had to be.

The flower mandala had been temporary. Investing in humanity—with our humanity—often feels temporary, especially when our efforts are uncertain, small, spontaneous.

But the memories and impacts from creating the mandala, from investing our humanity? They can live on and on and on.

Never underestimate the permanency of investing your humanity.

Invest your humanity - Albert Schweitzer


How do you invest your humanity? Share in the comments.

Read more:

One Word 2023 Human

17 thoughts on “If It’s Only Temporary, Is It Worth It?

  1. Jennifer Wise

    These are such beautiful thoughts. And beautiful photos–what a wonderful and uplifting experience! I have a hard time with temporary things, but they can indeed serve an important purpose. From a life-changing event to a springboard for learning or growth, there are lots of things in life that are one-time events. Maybe that’s why I especially love taking pictures–even with a temporary thing, I can look back on it for years to come. Thank you for this insightful post. Visiting from Senior Salon Pit Stop.

  2. Dianna

    This is such a powerful post, Lisa. Kia had a vision in mind and because she didn’t give up just because it didn’t work out the way it planned, God honored her with a much bigger space with room for more people to participate in making the flower mandala. Such a beautiful illustration.

    You ask how I invest in my humanity…nothing quite as outstanding as what Kia did here but I invest by listening to people’s hearts when I interact with them…not just the words they are saying, but more of what they aren’t saying.

  3. Lynn

    What a wonderful way Kia showed and practiced the art of creating to take care of ourselves. And God led her to an even bigger vision than first imagined! Everything is temporary in this world, actually! Investing our time in humanity can create ripple affects that long last any structure. I think of how the bible does just that! 🙂 Wonderful thought today.

  4. Martha J Orlando

    As Lynn said, everything in this world is temporary, but that shouldn’t limit us from exploring our own creative impulses and inspiring others to do the same. Our actions will live long after we’re gone. That is a legacy to treasure, Lisa.
    Blessings!

  5. Lynn D. Morrissey

    Oh wow! Soooo beautiful, a beauty which kept increasing! And what struck me was the diversity of the mandala in color and textures of petals, AND the diversity of humankind necessary to create it. We can all grow when we come together in a creative way. And this is the kind of *seemingly* temporary thing that ultimately has eternity stamped on it. Whenever God asks us to help someone, temporary and fleeting as it may seem, it’s these kind works which He ultimately blesses. It’s not the mandala, itself, of course, but maybe the kind word or compassion you extended to its makers whom you met in the process.

    Love you, Lisa!
    xo
    Lynn

  6. Linda Stoll

    ‘One passerby at a time. She is providing rest, offering a space to breathe.’ Oh what a winsome invitation, Lisa. And how cool that God continues to invite us to that freedom and spiritual growth in our walk with Him. And then we get nurtured and fed so that we get to offer His hope to others.

  7. Michele Morin

    I identify with your practical impulses because I would have had the same reservations. This reminds me of the very temporary craft projects I do with my grandkids. It’s definitely not about the product…!

  8. Sue from Women Living Well After 50

    I love this idea and hosted a day retreat once where we did something similar before we started the day. I believe that temporary is so worth it. It helps us to be i the moment and appreciate being present. It also teaches us to appreciate what we have now as it could be taken away in a moment (as the flowers were swept away overnight). A lovely post and thank you for sharing, Lisa. x

  9. Jeanne

    Of course temporary is worth it. Really, everything in the present is temporary. Depending on your time scale, even your life is temporary. Because of memory, lectures and quick temporary moments can linger and influence us for a minute, an hour, day, weeks, or a life.

  10. Natalie

    Lisa, Thank you for your weekend coffee share. I think everything is temporary and it’s worth sharing especially when it’s beautiful and brings peace like the mandala creation.

  11. Kirstin

    WOW! That is so good. I love what you said “investing in humanity with our humanity often feels temporary”. I feel like I Try to do this at work with the people who will cross my path, sometimes regularly, other times, only once.

  12. Cecelia Lester

    I also believe that everything is temporary. Our lives are temporary when viewed against the things that have passed through this world. I came to this conclusion as I dealt with the news of having breast cancer in 2021.

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