I used to have a small Japanese maple right outside of my house. Through the spring, summer, and fall, it was the most vibrant and beautiful auburn red. It was my favorite tree. But as the winter would come through, and the leaves were all gone, I would look in wonder at the branches of that tree. They way they were all tangled and mangled together, that made it seem impossible that the tree could survive.
But the fact is that the tree did more than survive, it was a thriving, gorgeous living thing, right there in my front yard. The leaves hid those woven, ugly branches, but it was those branches that made it bloom so beautifully.
It made me think of how we relate to others. How we may be embarrassed or afraid to tell people our emotions or fears. We worry that if people saw how scared or imperfect or jumbled we are, that they would not like us as well. But really, the opposite is true. When we show who and what we are, what's buried and hidden but still real and there, makes us all the more attractive. Because it's not the shimmery colorful outside that makes us beautiful; it's knowing who someone is, where they came from, and what they've been through, that's really the important part, and the part that's most worth uncovering.
-a
Comments
Post a Comment