Thursday, May 21, 2020

Flowers and Music (for Mental Health!)



Whether we are around wildflowers or blooming trees at Arabia Mountain or Panola Mountain...


Or if they are carefully tended flowers in our own garden...


   all of these flowers are good for our mental health. So, flowers and music, I believe are good for all of us.

The month of May is Mental Awareness Month.  During these stressful times, it is important to remember those who are having trouble coping.  There was an REM song that received quite a bit of airplay at the beginning of the pandemic, but the one that I wish would have been given attention was another one..."Everybody Hurts".    


May I tell you something? You might not believe this but it is true.
In February (which seems like a lifetime ago now), Richard and I met Michael Stipe. (The lead singer AND songwriter of REM.)  I recognized him and asked if I could shake his hand. (Oh the days when one could shake a person's hand and not think a thing about it!)  He was most gracious and I am grateful that I am able to recall a moment like that from this year.

So remember, "hold on"!  (This song is from their album, "Automatic for the People".  Don't you just love that? He got that phrase from a small restaurant in Athens. That would be Athens, Georgia, not Athens, Greece!)

26 comments:

  1. Music and flowers are indeed for the health of the masses. I rely on them too.

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    1. They are both a gift from God, I believe!

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  2. Cool! I'm a Michael Stipe and REM fan too!

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    1. I like him more and more even now that I have met him. He was really sweet to stop and shake my hand.

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  3. I am not too keen on Michael Stipe's voice or REM's music, but I appreciate they are great musicians and have something to say through their songs. And shaking hands between two fellow human beings - how I miss such simple gestures... With my friends and family, I am very much a "hugger", but I can only do that with O.K. these days.
    The flowers in your pictures, they are true works of art, created by the Greatest Artist of them all!

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    1. The Greatest Artist of them all, yes indeed! In fact, the vernal pools on Arabia Mountain, they look as if a master gardener has carefully planted each and every plant in a landscaped and careful bed and yet, they are all wildflowers which come up that way every year!
      You don't like REM? They are from Georgia, you know, and have always been very popular here. I had no idea how popular they were all over the world until I was much older! Michael Stipe is, I think, just 3 years younger than me. I like him even more now since I met him, looked into his eyes and shook his hand.

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  4. What fun to meet him. I would never know who he is. I play a little music but I prefer to listen to the birds and the sound of the breeze in the trees this time of year with everything opened up.
    We are closed in all the cold winter so it is a relief to hear and see nature up close again.
    Cathy

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    1. My husband and I love the birds! I have read that more and more are interested in birds this year since the lockdown happened at the same time that birds were nesting and raising their young. Good, I say..I love birds!
      And it was amazing to meet him, just in a small town in Georgia and I am thinking that he thought no one would recognize him! :-)

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    1. The first four photos of flowers are all wildflowers. (The last one is in our garden.)
      We have some incredible wildflowers!

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  6. If I'm honest I'd never heard of MS. I listened to the song and I can see where he's coming from but his music is not really my cup of tea. Flowers are wonderful for one's health and I enjoyed your pictures of flowers I am not familiar with.
    Stay safe.

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    1. As I said in that last reply to Pam's comment, the first 4 photos are all wildflowers! We love the wildflowers here!
      And you don't like Michael Stipe! REM has always been wildly popular here in Georgia but then, they are from Georgia so I guess that's why! Not all songwriters can sing but I think Micahel Stipe is good. Much better than Ed Sheeran!

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  7. Music and flowers are good for the soul. Both good to take our minds off of what troubles us. I love the pictures you have shown of the flowers there. Thank you for sharing.

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    1. Music and flowers are good for the soul! I need to take photos of all the flowers in our garden, including the veggies we are growing!

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  8. I like your photos. That video is awesome.

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    1. Thank you! I am glad you like the video. It was at a concert in London. The folks there seem to give a lot of respect to musical artists and know how to sing along!

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  9. This is so true, Kay. For me, flowers are especially part of what makes life beautiful, and music, too. But I have to confess I do not know REM's music. I think my daughters know it much better.

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    1. REM is so much a part of the music in Georgia, I didn't really know how popular they were around the world!

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    1. Thank you! And I even took some of them!
      :-)

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  11. Such beautiful flowers, I think any flower can lift the spirt!

    Wonderful music choice …

    All the best Jan

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  12. How wonderful that you were able to meet Michael Stipe. I'm afraid I don't know him, but it's fabulous that you could. Those flowers are absolutely gorgeous!

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    1. I am really good at faces. I know that is you behind that mask!

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  13. Who would have thought back then that shaking hands would become such a "No.No." in so short a time.

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    1. I must admit, even then since I knew he lived in New York, I thought about it afterwards and made sure I washed my hands! (Sorry Michael Stipe!) I really am like that robot from Lost In Space...danger, Will Robinson!!

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