On a vacation trip early last month, we were lucky enough to visit the Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh. What a fabulous facility, which I recommend to anyone that likes plants and happens to be in the Pittsburgh neighborhood.
While we were wandering around the various greenhouses, we came upon a sign planted on a patch of bare dirt that said, “I’m Not Dead, I’m Dormant.” I commented to the group that that phrase would be good for a t-shirt. We all laughed, and I forgot about the whole thing until a few weeks ago. I was looking around online, and did one of those “for the heck of it” searches. I typed in tshirt im not dead im dormant. A t-shirt did come up, and when I looked at the name of the store where it could be purchased, it was none other than the Phipps Museum Shop. I chuckled as I emailed the url to Alice and Steve, and then forgot about it, until today, when a belated father’s day gift arrived. We took one picture of me holding the shirt looking dormant, and one of me smiling. Guess which one I picked?
There is a poignant truth in that phrase and a strong element of hope for those of us who haven’t achieved the goals in life that we have wanted. Just as a field has to be infused or rested for a greater harvest or outcome in the future, there out times in our lives that we have to rest before, something good can happen.
Comment by John Bosio — June 21, 2014 @ 7:00 am