Weeds Are Flowers Too

When I was a little girl I would spend time in the front yard picking dandelions for my mum. I thought they were beautiful. I'd pick a whole bunch, then clutching onto it behind my back I would race up to my mum and ask her to close her eyes. Once I was ready to present her with the lovely golden flowers I'd say 'Open your eyes!' I'd hand them over, and she would gasp and act so surprised!

One day, I was gathering dandelions when my older brother walked over to me and said, "You know that they are just weeds." At the ripe age of three I was devastated. I couldn't believe that I had been giving my mum weeds! So, I stopped picking them for her.

It wasn't until many many years later that I realized the connection between the yellow flower and the 'wish blow' as I used to call it.

These 'weeds' would eventually turn their petals into the lovely little circle of fluffy white fine particles that were so cherished by small children everywhere, as they were blown off the stem along with a wish into the wind. This in itself makes them lovely, and far from a simple weed.

I also realized as I grew older that my older brother and I didn't share the same views, and he became quite the pessimist, whereas I would like to see the beauty in anything and everything.

It is through this simple childhood disagreement with my brother that I guess I first learned to look deeper into things. Not everything is just as it appears to be, or as you can first assume.


My brother considered the dandelion to be a weed probably because they just popped up here there and everywhere, and weren't as lovely looking as the flowers my mum would would purposely plant. I guess it also didn't help watching my dad mow them down as he cut the lawn.

However, if he had of given the dandelion a chance to get to know it, he would have seen that it truly is quite an amazing little plant, and how it could become an exciting source of magic for other children, as they spotted one that had matured and were given the opportunity to make a wish.

Just as the old saying goes, 'Don't judge a book by it's cover', and certainly don't assume that if something isn't pretty it can't behold beauty in it's purest form.



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