Fiery of shade and flame-like of hue, this tulip bloom is a little globe on fire, and it’s inspiring me to burn with the brightest flame, no matter what the cost or wear and tear. “My candles burns at both ends, it will not last the night,” Edna St. Vincent Millay once wrote, “But Ahh my foes, and oh my friends, it gives a lovely light!”
The older I get, the less willing I am to put up with the bullshit. More patient and tolerant in many ways, I’m also well-aware of my breaking point, and what I will or won’t tolerate. Baseless attacks on loyalty and friendship are foremost among those things that cannot be ignored. Peddling in lies and false tales won’t be allowed either. Try me and find out.
In the past, such a stance was forced and propped up by insecurity and doubt. Lashing out was a way to mask feelings of inferiority. These days, I don’t feel the need to shout. More is accomplished – and in more frightening fashion – when the words are spoken quietly, with assurance, genuine self-confidence, and the irrefutable backing of truth.
When the fires burn low, and the ash crumbles, it is the truth that will remain – crystalline and unassailable – forged as if in hell, tempered by an ever-present divinity, and sparkling for all the world to see.
