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Heartwings Love Notes 799 - Weeds are Flowers Too

Heartwings says, "The beauty of weeds is more obvious when you look without prejudice."

Each spring, whenever I walk through the series of parking lots across the street from my building, my eye is drawn to the weeds growing by the barrier between two of the lots. All year long I have watched them spring up, flower, go to seed and now succumb to the cold, their length still softening the hardness of the barrier they where they grow. I often also notice the weeds growing next to the concrete dividers on the highway. They struggle up through tiny cracks in the pavement, signaling the persistence of nature against human concretization.

Soon snow will fall and the remaining stalks, now sere and brown will still cast shadows on the snowfall, reminding me of the inevitability of spring. Despite the gardener's dismay, weeds are flowers too. In addition to their roadsides beauty, their seeds feed birds and many of their roots and leaves are medicinal and even nourishing. Quantities of the weeds of today formed part of the diet of those who lived here before the Europeans arrived and some were even brought here by the early settlers who planted hem to harvest for food.

The virtues of a plant that we call a weed may be many. Now that I no longer have a garden I can appreciate their beauty even more. A weed is by definition something that grows wild, that grows where it has not been deliberately planted: an unwanted, uninvited guest in the garden. And in a metaphorical garden, weeds may be seen as the unwanted catalogues that keep arriving in the mail, the undesired emails that show up in my inbox, or even the telephone calls from those appealing to me to purchase from or donate to them.

How are these flowers in the garden of my life? Perhaps because as I eliminate them, they call me to pay better attention. I could also see them as helping me to be grateful that once they are gone I have more space and a better awareness of what I wish to keep for myself. These weeds are persistent in the gardens that we call our lives. However at least they do not require my bending over to remove them or to dig out their roots. As I appreciate the beauty of the actual weeds when I see them so too I can rejoice for that beauty that comes uninvited yet welcome to my view.

As you go about your day may you enjoy all kinds of beauty.
 

I love to hear from readers and would be honored if you would comment and let me know any suggestions or thoughts. If a friend sent you this, you can sign up at my web site, www.heartwingslovenotes.com, where more love notes can be found in the archives.

Blessings and Best Regards,
Tasha Halpert
 

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