Bharat S. M. Karavadra

Are You A Weed?… You May Be Special.

Saturday, March 20th, 2010

Do you feel unwanted, lonely, rejected, perhaps depressed, without friends, family or support, and unmotivated about life?

Does the future look bleak, hopeless, sad and unpromising?

Then perhaps you are a weed, not literally, but metaphorically.

What on earth am I talking about (you may be thinking)? Well, I received an email this morning which may makes sense, but this email hit a point home to me and I felt like sharing this with you. The email is below but let me explain briefly in my own words with a quick story.

Once there was a weed. It sat amongst other flowers which were very similar, but the weed was different. The same ol’ people came to see the flowers but the weed was never admired. Instead it was always frowned upon because it was unwanted, had a ghastly colours and kept dropping sticky things on the ground which had to be picked up. The weed was simply out of place. If it was pulled out, it would always come back and so thee weed was left to grow.

One day someone new came along and asked about one of the flowers. Nobody new about the flower so the person was pointed to other flowers. The person insisted to know about the one flower and eventually the person was asked to take the flower as nobody knew about it.

The person took the flower home and planted it in their garden with the other flowers which were similar to that one flower. Occasionally the person would take the sticky buds away with a smile on their face. On other occasions other people would come to see the flowers, also with a smile on their face.

Here’s what you may not have been aware of: the unwanted weed was taken by a person who planted it with other similar weeds. The person saw them all as flowers, not weeds. The person was a healer and the other people were healed with the sticky buds.

So perhaps you are special but in your current reality you are a weed amongst other people’s flowers. You have to believe that you are a flower in another reality and not just one that looks nice and has no specific use. Be patient, look after yourself, and believe in yourself, as a better reality exists.

Here’s the email I received:

Title: Messengers from the Wilderness: Weeds

A plant is a weed only within a certain context; one person s weed is another person s wildflower.

Simply expressed, a weed is any plant that grows where it isn’t wanted. Weeds are defined by their tendency to flourish at the expense of a gardener s overall vision, and we tend to battle their presence in our yards. It is interesting to consider, though, that a plant is a weed only within a certain context, which is to say that one person s weed is another person s wildflower. Most of us have pulled at least one dandelion up by its roots and disposed of it in the interest of preserving the look of a perfect green lawn, yet the dandelion is good medicine, packed with healing properties and vitamin-rich leaves that are a delicious, spicy surprise in a summer salad.

In the wild, there is no such thing as a weed because the overall vision is in the hands of Mother Nature, who accommodates and incorporates all forms of life. In nature, balance is achieved over the long term, without the aid, or interference, of a human supervisor. While one plant may prevail over others for a certain period of time, eventually it will reach an apex and then it will naturally decline, allowing for other forms to be born and survive. This self-regulating realm was the first garden of our ancestors, who learned the art of agriculture from studying the forests and fields of the as yet uncultivated earth. In a sense, weeds are harbingers of this wildness, pushing their way into our well-ordered plots, undermining more delicate flora, and flourishing in spite of us.

The next time you see a weed, you might want to look deeply into its roots, discover its name, its habits, and its possible uses. Instead of seeing an unwanted intruder, you might see a healer offering its leaves for a medicinal tea or its flowers for a colorful salad. At the very least, if you look long enough, you will see a messenger from the wilderness of Mother Earth, reminding you that, even in the most carefully controlled garden, she cannot be completely ruled out.

Email sent by DailyOM

I must apologize to DailyOM for publishing the whole email – but I had to – it was so apt for my work and people that I know.