Weeding Our Lawn

Beauty Is What Beauty Is.

If we look at a well manicured lawn we will typically see nice sharp boundaries, blades of grass with a rich, vibrant green color all at a uniform height. We know that someone has put in a lot of care to achieve what they have determined to be perfection and beauty.

But where does this idea of beauty and perfection come from?

Society. Ones' society dictates what is deemed beautiful and perfect and most often people go along with this artificial notion.

For example, in older Chinese society, small feet on a woman were considered to be beautiful. And to achieve this beauty, women would undergo a process of binding their feet to prohibit growth and to shape them into a desirable position. This would render it very difficult for them to walk. 

Consider the term perfection, meaning without flaw. Who has determined what is without flaw? What is a flaw? 

Again perfection is a construct typically defined by society or an organization. Consider a time when you took a test. If you answered all of the questions correctly, you were deemed to have a perfect score. Suppose you missed a single question. Now you have not achieved 'perfection' as considered by society. 

How would you then feel about yourself if you missed a single question? Did missing a single question detract in any way from the effort you put forth? No, of course not. So the idea of perfection is an imaginary construct we use to define our effort or appearance.

Now imagine that same lawn with a single dandelion growing in the center. Did the beauty of the lawn suddenly disappear? Suppose there were 10, 100, or 1000 dandelions in the yard?

Now we have what was once a uniform green lawn speckled with the vibrant yellow we find inherent with the dandelion. There are some who would now view this lawn as poorly maintained while others would see the beauty in this diversity.

Some view the dandelion as a weed and incompatible with such a lawn. But ask yourself, what is a weed? A weed is a term for a plant that someone else has told you does not belong on a well-manicured lawn and should be plucked. 

In our own lives we are allowed to determine what is a weed and what is not a weed. We have the liberty to include or exclude what is beautiful and positive and what does not cultivate positivity.

If we look closer at this dandelion lawn we now notice that pollinators like bees and butterflies are visiting each of the dandelions. Bees and butterflies symbolize life and vitality. So, with the addition of this 'weed' onto the uniform, green lawn, we have invited members of the ecosystem to become active participants in promoting a healthy environment.

When we are mindful of what it takes to have a rich, vibrant, lawn we understand that diversity promotes growth. Not just on our lawn but with our neighbors lawn as well because pollinators do not only visit our lawn but our neighbors.

Wishing you all peace and ease,

Vladimir

Blue Lotus Meditation And Mindfulness Center is a registered 501(c)(3) religious organization.