My neighbors have seen me do all kinds of things to my lawn over the past few years, from getting down on hands and knees and plucking the grass with my bare hands, to using a non-electric 3-wheeled (it’s broken) push-mower while wearing heels and a sports bra, to my new domestic accomplishment today of using a weed eater. While the use of a weed eater might not be unusual, I decided this morning that it would be a more productive use of my time to use the weeder for the entire yard. Even though I have a small yard, I will blame this lapse in judgement on my blondness, for this was a lot more time consuming that I expected. Thankfully though, it allowed me some time for reflection as a I determinately chopped off the forest of dandelions that speckled my yard.
I always loved dandelions as a kid; my mother used to tell me that they are weeds, and I struggled to grasp the concept, for how could something so wonderful and beautiful as a flower in one’s own lawn be considered a weed? Moreover, this magical flower doesn’t just die like a normal flower, it withers into a wish ball of flighty seeds that are just waiting to be blown out like a birthday cake.
But my mother was right. Dandelions are weeds, and I don’t like having dandelions in my yard anymore. Weeds are stubborn creatures, they come and go as they please and can be incredibly difficult to get rid of. Like the weeds in our own personal lives, sometimes we can’t control what weeds grow into our pathways and lawns. We can however choose to see the beauty in the weeds. Plucking them like a dandelions, we can wish prosperity upon ourselves as we are forced to slow down and reflect upon whatever the weed is revealing to us. Some weeds in our lives we can choose to exterminate immediately — toxic relationships, addictive behaviors, negative attitudes, self-pity — and in doing so, we will feel cleansed and alive. There are other weeds that are more permanent, the ones that keep coming back, that keep haunting us, and that keep trying to suffocate our spirits. These weeds simply need to be seen from a different perspective; these are the dandelions that your children will play with, that they will think are beautiful wildflowers, and that ultimately, seen with the right attitude, will add deep meaning and beauty to your life in ways you may have never expected.
May all the weeds of your life turn to wildflowers.