Love in different shapes and colors

Love can be expressed so many different ways. I love flowers. Plants of most types, really. Even the poison oak near my childhood home turned all different sorts of gorgeous colors, tantalizing the unwary with vibrant golds and vivid reds, reflecting the light off still-glimmering oily leaves. My parents spent a few precious days with me, and a couple minutes of that was spent arguing about what plant to buy me  — a whimsical blue orchid (“She loves blue!”) or a goofy purple waffle plant (“It will remind her of Waffle Wednesdays!”). They decided to get me both. 🙂

Right now I’m living in a country that seems to be slowly separating by different beliefs and a lack of love for different shapes and colors. If you pick up a paper, it’s a depressing chronic illness all of its own, all across the world. I find myself rather wishing that people were as lovable as plants, and I could fix the disease with a touch of fertilizer. But it seems instead of loving the different shapes and colors many are going for the weed killer… the definition of the weed seems to be “unwanted.” And there’s always the poison oak to consider. Yet as Oscar Wilde wrote, “It takes great courage to see the world in all its tainted glory, and still to love it.” I hope titanium butterflies everywhere can show that type of strength. Meanwhile, I’m going to water my waffle plant and stake my orchid, contemplate the ways we can show and accept love, and pray.