Lilies and Lovely Little Moments

I am fulfilling another request this week. We will be analyzing Monet’s The Water-Lily Pond. (I really enjoyed this google tour of the painting.)

I was excited to fulfill this request because this painting fits the color scheme of my blog. I also just attended an “ethereal” themed birthday party. I immediately began the search for cottage-core, low-fantasy, nature-appreciating media. 

I tried to do for this painting what I did for Taylor Swift: research. Look for themes, dig into the history. Maybe get some keywords. However, there’s not much history to be said for this painting. 

An aging man, finally settled in his life, builds a pond and plants water lilies. He doesn’t plan to paint them, but he does. He spends the rest of his life experimenting with different ways for him to capture the same scene. 

He is content, and he sits and admires nature, and that’s about all. 

Simplicity. Joy. 

I’ve tried to find media that is quiet, the way this painting is. I don’t want to flood your brains with noise: spiritual, audial, or visual. 

MUSIC

I searched Spotify for “Water Lillies” and found a playlist that recommended: Lana Del Ray’s Love Song, Million Eye's lovely ethereal waltz There Will Be Rain, and the piano interpretation of Someday My Prince Will Come by Emile Pandolfi. 

Then, I listened to Pandolfi’s interpretation of Feed the Birds, and I cried. The message of the song is so simple, and I could hear it through the music. I almost added Mary Poppins to this list, but I felt like it was just a little too busy. 

I’m also going to recommend Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, for those that are getting a little bored. They're probably too high-energy for this piece, but I couldn't deny the nature appreciation. 

If you’re looking for music that Monet would have listened to, Sheherazade by Nikoli Rimsky-Korsakov premiered just 10 years earlier. I listened to The Tale of the Kalendar Prince. Lovely Stuff. 

Finally, the most peaceful piece: Debussy's Clair de Lune. Listen to this. This is my #1 out of this list.

LITERATURE 

Maybe this is my personal attachment speaking, but I’m going to go ahead and recommend Thoreau’s Walden here. It was written under similar circumstances as The Water Lillies painted: Man discovers nature, and he sits and enjoys it for a long time. Thoreau and Monet were active at the same time, and their works reflect a lot of the same cultural values. 

They also have had a similar level of cultural influence. Monet’s Lilies are among the most recognizable paintings on the planet, and Thoreau is one of the most quoted writers of all time. Even if you don’t know them by name, the common person could still identify them by their reputation. 

SCREEN 

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (not really.....)

I will confess to never having seen this film, and I'm not going to make it an official recommendation. There's just a little too much drama and the stakes are too high in this realistic period piece. But I couldn't help but get a similar energy from it. 

Director Céline Sciamma has another film that is actually titled Water Lillies (though the vibes don’t quite match) so I thought this film was at least worth mentioning. 

My real recommendation is......

 

Studio Ghibli! I was so excited when I made this connection, and angry it took me so long to come up with. You have to be careful or you’ll find yourself crying over Ghibli movies. However, there is no doubt that their childhood wonder and artistic detail make them a perfect fit for this list. Choices that show an appreciation for nature and peace are My Neighbor Totoro and The Secret World of Arietty. In addition, Monet’s water lilies were heavily influenced by Japanese art, specifically Hokusai. 

yes, that one.

Finally, I’m going to recommend that everyone go to Disney Plus, pick a nature documentary, drink some herbal tea, and chillax. Give your brain a break for 2 hours or so. You deserve it.