The Grass is (Sometimes) Greener

I woke up this morning and felt envious of the wildflower field outside my bedroom window. To be oblivious to the world -besides the occasional rainstorm and gust of wind- sounded like a dream. It sounded simple, and I would kill for a little bit of simplicity every once in a while. Instead of getting dressed, drinking a couple cups of mediocre coffee to wake myself up, and getting the day started, I imagined what it would be like to plant myself into that field as if I was just another flower. Maybe if I walked into the middle of the tall grass, weeds, and wildflowers, and stayed there long enough, my feet would sink into the ground like roots in the dirt, and I would just live out the rest of my life there, only needing some water and sunshine to grow to be healthy and beautiful.

Although people are a lot like plants, we need a bit more than just water and light to keep us going, even though those things are essential to our growth as well. We need love, a sense of purpose, friends, a home -a little money never hurts either- and so many other ingredients to make up a good, fulfilling life. Our definition of happiness is constantly shifting and is never the same from one individual to the next. We each have unique love languages and spend our time trying -and sometimes failing- to understand our partner's or friend's individual love language. The range of human emotions is so complex and, frankly, exhausting. However, this range allows us to choose how we see our world and everything we require to function. We can either choose to see this laundry list of things we need to survive as a hindrance, a bother, or we can choose to see them as a privilege. We're privileged to feel so many beautiful emotions in the span of twenty-four hours. It's a privilege to know so many things and to be able to keep that knowledge growing until your time on earth is complete. Yes, we can be fragile, and our hearts can feel as if they've been shattered into a million pieces, unable to be taped back together. But we continue on, even if we aren't sure if we can. We're allowed to feel and perceive the world in which we live with such vibrance and complexity that other living things are not able to do.

Planting my feet into the ground in a field of flowers is tempting, but the grass only seems greener on the other side. We just need to remember to keep our side watered regularly.