Mayflowers

April showers bring mayflowers, or so I’ve heard all my life. In The Art of Love at Blackwater Pond, Sarah wonders about the name Mayflower. Like Sarah, most of us probably jump to the Pilgrim ship as Sarah does and never stop to think about its name origin. A little research indicates that the ship was named for an English plant that was called mayflower, but is now known as lily of the valley.

There are two plants known as mayflowers in the US. The one that grows in the south is often called the mayapple. Mayflowers symbolize hope, fertility, and new beginnings. I like to think the Pilgrims were aware of the symbolism.

Can you imagine the courage required to undertake such a journey into the unknown? To leave friends and family behind and set sail toward the wilderness that awaited?

It’s unfathomable, but in a way, life requires similar courage at each new stage. When we leave home for the first time. When we start a new job. When we marry. When we become parents. When we try out for a team or stand up on a stage. When we accept a leadership role or ask someone for help.

We don’t know what awaits us. We can’t know how things will turn out. We don’t know the dangers that await us. We don’t know if we’ll be successful.

Life is like that. If we knew, we might not try at all. It takes great courage to move forward.

I’m reminded of a Langston Hughes’ poem I used to teach: “Mother to Son”. In this poem, which compares life to a staircase, the speaker instructs her child to keep going despite life’s difficulties, despite the fact that none of us knows what’s waiting in the darkness or around the corner

But then again, if we knew, we might race forward. I’m reminded of a popular saying, credited to Erin Hanson: “What if I fall? Oh, but my darling, what if you fly?”

It’s worth considering.

While it’s true that we might fail or fall, it’s also true that we might soar to heights beyond our expectations. But the real lesson, the real value is knowing that failure frequently leads to later success.