In March we usually take a trip to South Beach for a small vacation. This year we kept it local due to many circumstances. So we opted for few days in Chicago, our home away from home.
Chicago is known for being a beautiful city with world class shopping. I always allow some time for that whenever I visit. But my favorite thing to do is eat my way through the city. This particular trip, since we were chasing that 60º weather on Friday, I was compelled to visit the Garfield Park Nature Conservatory.
The first thing I noticed as I walked in was the SMELL. Wow, did my senses feel robust from all the plant and flower aromas!! I honestly felt like life had been infused back into me. The warmth and humidity was also welcomed.
John and I spent a long time sitting on a bench in the middle of the tropical foliage meditating and breathing in all the life around us. I felt euphoric, calm, satisfied and peaceful.
The last green house contains the flower exhibit and is a spectacular assault to your senses when you haven't seen large amounts of flowers for MONTHS. The colors are so vibrant, the smell is intoxicating and it is so hard to leave!! I heard a mother tell her daughter it was time to go, and the little girl begged her Mom to stay. I felt the same exact way.
As we were about to exit, I was drawn to a deep yellow colored flower. Its leaves were nearly perfect and unfurling, like nothing I had seen before. I snapped a picture hoping I could capture the magic I saw when I looked at it. To my surprise, the picture seized the gracefulness ....
The flower is called a Ranunculus asiasticus. I kept looking at it, stunned by how the leaves were perfectly folded, layer by layer. The flower had a deep rich pigment that reminded me of a summer night sky. Simple, delightful, and humble, these are the things that made it superb!
As I think more about the flower, or nature in general, I think there is a great lesson to be learned, and that is one about HUMILITY. This flower knows it is not a rose, that is does not have the alluring fragrance of a lilac or a lily. It will never be a cute little violet or seductive orchid. If all the plants and flowers wanted to be each other, then Springtime would lose it's brilliance and the magnificent show we see each year would cease to impress. Nature knows the true balance of existence. No single thing is boastful of its place, rank or importance in the grand scheme of things. Aristotle said "The whole is greater then the sum of its parts". This speaks to being humble. Together, they make something spectacular without even knowing.
The humility of the flower shows us that perfection can only come in the form of doing what we were made to be, what the divine wills us to be, and that is ourselves. He created each of us to be uniquely admirable. When we are humble we have no worries of being unnoticed, overlooked, and no need for praise. Humbleness is true greatness and nature shows that to us daily, all in the leaves of a modest yellow flower.
P.S. Thank you to my friend James for inspiring me to finish this post :)
