I’ve been thinking about wildflowers a lot lately. As I’ve been going on long walks around Bloomington, I’ve found more and more places where wildflowers are blooming. They change a little throughout the seasons, but they are still there. And, as I walk, I find them in the ugliest of places – forgotten corners of buildings, cracks in roads and where the roads have fallen into disrepair. They bloom brightly along the sides of trails that carry hundreds of people every day, fighting for sunlight to make themselves known.
Wildflowers are tenacious.
I want to be the same way.
I want to be like the wildflowers that have so captivated me in this season of life. I want to grow no matter how much the world is trying to drag me down. I want to constantly be seeking out the warmth and light of the sun in the dark days. I want to stand out, bright and brilliant despite the weeds and detritus that covers my roots. I don’t want to give up when things get hard.
Wildflowers are beautiful.
I want to add beauty to the world.
There is something beautiful about the chaos of wildflowers. By their very nature they are not restrained by the confines of walls and sidewalks and the world as we’ve tried to cover it and control it. The more we try to kill and choke out the wildflowers, the more they bloom. I want to bloom in spite of the world. I want to bloom even when the storm clouds are pouring down on me. I want to bloom when I’m the only one still standing. I want to bloom when the world has given up on beauty. I want to bloom.
Wildflowers are unexpected.
I want to embrace the unexpected in my life.
Wildflowers bloom in unexpected places, in unexpected colors and bunched with unexpected other plants. Sometimes I turn a corner on a boring and flat trail and the colors almost take my breath away. I want to be unexpected. I want to bring life and wonder to the world, not take away from it. And, more
than anything, I want to be open to the unexpected beauty around me. If you would have asked me what my life would look like in Fall of 2023, I can guarantee it wouldn’t look like the life I’m living – but the unexpected can be beautiful.
I want to be a wildflower.
I want to bloom fiercely.
I want to add to the beauty of the world.
I want to bring joy to others.
I want to remind someone that there is still something lovely in the world on their darkest of days.