Beauty in Heterogeneity
According to Google heterogeneity is: the state or quality of being heterogeneous—consisting of different, distinguishable parts or elements.
The collage above consists of bouquets of wild flowers that I have collected from Mid May to this week while on my trail runs. Before you go all…”don’t pick the flowers” on me, please know that I only took very short stems and only where the selected variety was plentiful. I promise the mountains were just as pretty when I left as they were when I found them:) And, in case you were wondering: I place them behind my head under my stretchy visor band so that any runner or biker coming up from behind can enjoy them as well.
I love that you can see how the variety of blooms evolves throughout the seasons. One bouquet is not “better than the other”, but each has been affected by its unique environmental elements. If I were more versed in botany, I am sure I could tell you why one blooms early Spring while others are found in later Summer. The type of flowers change. The beauty remains.
I think it is easy to appreciate and celebrate differences in the blooming wild flowers. I absolutely love coming back from my run and putting the bouquet together. I don’t have a way of knowing how it will look until I get home. (Since the flowers are behind me) I collect one at a time. Each one catches my eye for a different reason but every one of them look more remarkable when placed next to a different variety. Flowers show well with contrast and I think we can easily appreciate this fact.
May we do the same with our fellow humans. Learn to appreciate each person for the unique beauty and for the variety they add to our community. Wishing one bloom looked different than it does seems ridiculous, right? Not only do we need to appreciate the differences in those around us, but also in ourselves. Wishing we looked a certain way, when placed in the wild flower context, seems absurd. Of course with the flower example I am talking mostly about appearances and yet with our human analogy there is so much more to the depth of the arrangement!
Discover your unique contribution to the bouquet of humankind. Your contribution matters. We wouldn’t be the same without you. We need your kind of you. And, in fact, we need the most you that you can be!
If you’d like help finding your beauty and becoming the best “you” you can be, I’d love to be your life coach. (We can also work on appreciating the variety of humans in your bouquet.)
