By Alexis Schlesinger
Editorial Staff
If it’s your first time being alive, there’s a lot you don’t know. As you continue on living, you begin to realize the truth in this over and over.
To quote William Shakespeare - “A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.”
With all that we don’t know, how do we learn as much as possible? How do we explore ourselves?
How do we get as much as we can out of this life?
I do know this much - we can’t do it alone.
There can be a lot of pressure to do things on your own, to “push through it.” That you might be disturbing someone else’s peace by not being at your own.
It’s true that there can be strength in being on your own. You can learn a lot by taking time to sit with your thoughts. Sort things out in your head and you can learn a lot about yourself.
However, it’s not the only way you should grow.
It is incredibly important to find those who you can grow alongside.
A garden cannot exist in its greatest beauty with only one flower.
It can’t serve its full purpose.
Of course the flower is beautiful by itself. Look at it closely, see the intricacy in its petals - not one will look exactly like another. There is so much to be said about it on its own.
Now think of the wonder you feel walking into a garden with many flowers. How you can find the similarities and differences in each of their beauty, their individuality, while also growing alongside each other.
At different rates, different colors, different sizes, but together nonetheless.
You can’t be afraid to coexist. You will not hinder someone else’s growth by simply being at their side, or allowing them to be at yours.
You will both grow all the same.
Perhaps you’re scared to plant new seeds beside your own because flowers have been lost from your garden before.
The dandelion you’ve tried convincing everyone is a flower, not a weed, has finally blown away in the wind. Someone careless has plucked your favorite tulip straight out from the ground beside you. Your carnation has wilted.
You can’t let this make you give up on tending the rest of the garden.
Weeds will start to grow, and petals will start to fall from those you neglect if you let the few you’ve lost define how you keep your grounds.
Take care of what you have right now.
It will never be pleasant to lose any flower. You worked hard to keep the beauty of your garden.
Keep it clean, uniform, and thriving. You give it sunlight, water, fertilizer. You plant your favorite seeds carefully. You put your time and your love into them.
Despite it all, it may not be enough for one, or even some.
Losing just one piece of what you’ve created can leave an emptiness. Maybe the roots are even still embedded in the soil.
There will be those who thrive greatly alongside you and that is what you must focus on. Keep your eyes on the beauty of what is alive.
There will be those who give you what you need to grow. You must allow them.
There is something incredibly earthly, incredibly human about togetherness.
The way hands hold, the way pinkies promise, the way voices harmonize. The way heads nest perfectly into shoulders when we embrace.
We, as human beings, are perfectly genetically made up to intertwine.
We have to honor that we exist in this way. We must grow alongside each other.