second blooming

fishhook cactus by Gary M. Stolz

I have enjoyed greatly the second blooming that comes when you finish the life of the emotions and of personal relations; and suddenly you find – at the age of fifty, say – that a whole new life has opened before you, filled with things you can think about, study, or read about. … It is as if a fresh sap of ideas and thoughts was rising in you.
~ Agatha Christie
(Women’s Words: The Columbia Book of Quotations by Women)

12 thoughts on “second blooming”

    1. Fast and furious and melodramatic at times… To me it’s almost like returning to that 7-13 age bracket when there were no hormone surges disrupting and distracting from the pure joy of learning, exploring and discovering…

  1. Well, I don’t know. I’m 52 and don’t find myself finished with “the life of the emotions and of personal relations.” I mean, I still have both. I do wholeheartedly agree with the second part. 🙂

    Another beautiful pairing of words and image.

    1. True, Robin, when you put it that way. 🙂 But I do think that even though technically we are not finished with them, our emotions and relationships are more mature, and far less melodramatic and precarious. Not that any rule-of-thumb applies to everyone! When I look at 20-somethings I see a lot of them struggling with negotiating terms in their relationships (as I did) but this sort of negotiating and compromising seems to get easier as life goes on…

      1. That I would agree with, Barbara. One of the best parts of being older is that the Drama Llama has been banished from my life. I’ll leave that to the young folks. 🙂

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