EDiTORiaL

"THErE arE always flowErs for THosE wHo wanT To sEE THEm"*

Sharmila Bertin

This quote from Henri Matisse (18691954), one of France’s great artistic personalities, whose potent shapes and blends of colours I love so much, sums up in a nutshell what I believe to be the perfect definition of what life is: an eternal spring. A time when nature is born anew, awakens, stretches out like an old cat, buds and blooms, swarms, nourishes itself with new sap. Winter coats are cast aside at last, chunky pullovers are thrown into the back of the wardrobe with their bonnet/glove/scarf pals, and the sun starts to shine stronger, longer. Days take on a different feel. As this mildness comes around, spring, which I could talk about for hours on end given that this season, which is my favourite, makes me so happy, marks the beginning of a cycle, the prelude to a story, an exquisitely-crisp white page just waiting to be scribbled over with new adventures.

Spring is, above all, a time for transformation, especially after two difficult years... Actually, no, “difficult” isn’t fitting here, I don’t like this term, it makes you feel instantly uncomfortable and creates pointless pressure, “different” would be more the word. Two different years that shook up our habits, obliged us to think, consume and work in another way, made us draw on resources within us to help us advance. Two years that enabled some to develop other talents, initiate creative projects, spend more time with their family or on their own, two years that enabled others to change their rhythm and vision of the world, even if I in no way dispute the harmful effects this pandemic has brought in its wake. But, as Henri Matisse said, “There are always flowers for those who want to

see them” and, for me, this complicated period was a blessing, even though it was occasionally sprinkled with rather unpleasant episodes. I did indeed see the flowers. On my daughter’s smiling face, in my son’s bursts of laughter. In the books I devoured, the plants I watered, the artwork I hung on the walls. And even in my father’s cordial lilting voice, my mother’s affectionate messages, despite the distance and the lockdowns that separated us.

This season, symbolizing renewal that’s both essential and inexorable, as I tried to explain above before I got lost in the twists and turns of my thoughts, is an opportunity to embrace change, even to trigger it, to set the oh-so famous “spring cleaning” in motion. As always, with the caring nature we are renowned for, we have inspired some change in our magazine; change that is smooth, considerate, change that continues to enkindle our desire to delight you and to delight ourselves. We knuckled down throughout the winter, like hardworking little marmots, to ensure that when springtime would come around, our magazine would be even more magnificent, more enriching, more captivating. For you, for us.