Tuesday, October 9, 2007

You Can't Keep A Good Weed Down


For those of you who have read my writing before you know that I have a mind that is often like that carnival game of chance that we've all heard of; round and round he goes, where he stops nobody knows. That's how my brain operates at times. I can't help but think the things I do. I wake up with certain thoughts in my brain and have no choice but to ponder them, so, I put my conclusions down in writing for all to read and hopefully think about too. Remember "The Carolina Rose"? Remember "Should man become Corn"? Well, today I woke up thinking about weeds; those pests in the gardens of our lives that seem so insignificant and bothersome, so out of place that we usually want them out of our sight.
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At the beginning of this summer this strange plant started growing in the middle of one of the beds in our front yard amid all of the intentional plantings; right next to the "named", "famed", plants that we had chosen to put in our lives. I had no clue what it was nor did I have any idea where it came from; at first it appeared to be an invader of the space we had created for our own satisfaction and definitely seemed out of place yet something about it made me leave it be.
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I wasn't alone in my thoughts that this "weed" somehow didn't belong there. I can't tell you how many times I was asked and then told that I needed to pull the thing up by it's roots because it was not one of the chosen. It was after all, simply a weed. It was an obnoxious little insignificant piece of growth that didn't know it's place. It hadn't been selected by us to be a part of the backdrop that framed our property. It was not nursery grown, it had not been cultivated, it had no history of being anything special, it was not known to be beautiful at all; and on top of it all it was infringing on our selected garden. But I still left it alone.
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Today, that plant that I considered a weed is now one of the most beautiful plants in my yard. It has been allowed to grow on it's own and has blossomed into a thing of beauty; totally unexpected, perhaps totally by chance, but it was given the opportunity and it proved itself to be worthy. Man needs to do this more often, give opportunities, give the benefit of the doubt. Not necessarily to plants but to other people, the bothersome appearing people who seem out of place. The insignificant little guy who tries to plod along doing what his life deems him to do, the man, or woman who doesn't have a great track record, the non-historic person who isn't a descendant from the first settlers, the person who cannot compare themselves to the stately Oak or Elm whose stature is envied, the weeds of humanity so to speak.
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I can say all of this because I know I was born a weed and I dare to say that many of those who read this were also born weeds as well; not all but many. No matter where we stand today, throughout our lives we have all had people who felt they were better than us who also felt we didn't belong. People who've tried to extinguish the very part of us that makes us who we are yet like the weed, you can crush us but we always manage to bounce back. I'm far from stately but I'm still alive and I'll continue to flourish as long as I'm allowed; if given the opportunity, the chance, I will blossom, I will show the rest of the world that I do in fact belong in this garden, we all do and all can. And for those who will never be able to see the beauty in everyone, I feel sorry; for they have no clue what they're missing out on.
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So, to all of you who've read all of this, you now know that I'm a weed and I can recover from any one's attempt to stop me and am damned proud of it! I'm also proud of my fellow men and women who are in the same boat; my fellow weeds. My fellow survivors of life....round and round we go, where we stop...............................who knows?

11 comments:

MedStudentWife said...

The concept of weeds is a funny thing - things we take as a "weed" once may have been purposely cultivated for a reason - food, beauty, utility.

I think "weed" is a word people use for something that they want to name, but cant.... trying to fit the square peg in the round circle of our own making.

Again - who makes the definition of "weed" ? We are all "weeds" inour own way, as none of us are alike the other, but yet need to flourish no matter what... given a chance.

Given the themes of some of your blogs, using the thought that "weeds" are horrid and nocxious plants, there are many characters I would term as "weeds"

paisley said...

this is so timely for me,, as just this morning when i was writing my 3ww.. i was wondering how does someone that is not born a weed... become one over the course of their life... not necessarily in those words,, but the same underlying question... very thought provoking.....

Spicy said...

Great post. It's funny but when you said weed...I was thinking of 'pot' as in 'good weed'....! It reminds me of the story of the ugly duckling. Many people walk around never seeming to fit in..always trying to find their place in life. If they only knew that God made us this way with all our differences for a reason.
I'm very happy that I have quite a few good weeds in my life. It's their uniqueness that has drawn me to them..and I love them for their differences. If I could clone them I would. Thank you.

Stealth said...

You're a dandy-lion, Deathsweeper

Anonymous said...

This is a beautiful post and a beautiful message.

Agnes Mildew said...

What a fantastic post, DS...it totally lifted my sombre mood. I have had an enormous row with my folks tonight who insist I am worse than useless (and this is an oft-repeated lament!). From sitting here, wondering whether I will ever be seen as anything but junk in their eyes, I read your piece and suddenly felt that, yes, I can blossom, too - and I think I now have the right growing conditions!! So, thanks, DS!

Anonymous said...

Well written. If all of the weeds from this year's lawn hadn't been so ugly, I'd be tempted to put them back in the ground!

Steve said...

Inspiring!

footiam said...

Yeah, nice post. Now, I know why some people say the mind is like a monkey. It goes round and round! Thanks for leaving your URL for me to pop in.

footiam said...

Yeah, nice post. Now, I know why some people say the mind is like a monkey. It goes round and round! Thanks for leaving your URL for me to pop in.

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