The story of a flower who forgot who she is
“Aaahhhh”, is like the sound of every cell in contact with the nice air outside. Every cell is energized and invigorated. It stretches both leaves and allows them to be washed by the sunlight. “What a wonderful day!” the orchid tells herself.
Then she looks around: a geranium exposes proudly tens of little red flowers. And what a smell! Wow! The whole house is filled with its sweet and powerful smell. Next to her, a baby bonsai drops another leaf. Around him, lie tiny dried leaves.
– Doesn’t it hurt when your leaves are falling?, asks the orchid..
– Noooo, otherwise there will be no room for others to grow. You see, us bonsai, regenerate multiple times. Dried leaves are falling and new ones grow, and our crown gets even denser.
–Ah, I see. How can I get rid of the leaves so that more will grow?
–Hmmm, probably this is how you are. With just two leaves. What kind of plant are you?
– I couldn’t tell you…..I don’t know….who can I ask? , Do you know how I am? Asks the geranium.
– I have no idea who you are. But you look kinda’ sad. I don’t even have flowers …..
–Ah, right ….. I don’t even have flowers……
And even though she woke up more full of life than ever, our orchid started to worry: “Why don’t I have so many leaves?”, “Why don’t I have flowers?”, “Who am I?”
And this is how the orchid is looking at the sun and asks it to shine its light stronger on her. Maybe this way the leaves will fall and new ones will grow. And maybe flowers will grow, too, as the geranium.
The sun looks at her, puzzled, but hearing her sadness, it heats her up as hard as it can.
Slowly, days go by, the bonsai is full of raw-green leaves and the geranium is prouder than ever. But the orchid is sad: both her leaves are dry and don’t seem to fall. The sun look at her with sadness, but it doesn’t know how to help her.
–I am so sad, dear sun, says the orchid. I wish I were them ….
–Oh, look how sad you are, says Ana. Let’s give you a bath!
Ana brought her home from her old place. A very crowded one. Maybe she can tell her who she is.
–Do you know who I am?, the orchid asks Ana.
She doesn’t get any answer…..”maybe we don’t speak the same language …..Oh…..”, tells herself.
Instead, she receives a nourishing liquid. Every drop soothes her dried leaves and energizes her.
She lets herself in the flow of water and prays that the leaves catch color again. Maybe she doesn’t have as much leaves nor flowers, but she doesn’t want to be unhappy anymore.
The next morning, Ana makes them a visit. She is carrying a flower full of little pink flowers. She is tall and wonderful. Wow, what a beauty! The petals are larger than the ones of the geranium and don’t smell. But it’s a real beauty.
–How beautiful are you!, says the orchid.
–Thank you! But what happened with you? Why are you so sad?
– I wanted to have leaves like the bonsai or small and thick flowers like the geranium. Instead, the only two leaves I had dried.
– Oh, silly! You cannot be like the. You are an orchid, just like me.
–Really? But how this can be?
– Yes, you bloom less and you don’t have as many leaves. But your flowers are big and beautiful. Even though they don’t smell like the ones of the geranium, they are beautiful in a different way.
The orchid, hearing all these, asked herself how she almost died without realizing how wonderful she is. Instead, seeing the new orchid, told herself: “I don’t want to be like them anymore. I want to be like me”.
After a while, her leaves started to catch color, another two small ones grew and got filled with buds. Every morning she wakes up saluting the sun, she lets herself in the flow of water and breathes fresh air from the outside when Ana opens the window.
One morning, the geranium, which now had no flowers left, told her: “Wow, how beautiful you are. You are full of flowers. What have you done?”
– Nothing, says the orchid. I just didn’t want to be like you anymore.
– I wish I were you. Look, I have no flowers left.
– We are beautiful differently. And when I will have no flowers left, you will be filled with new ones.
Similarly, often times, we want to be like those around us and trying to be like them, we forget who we really are. But every human being is beautiful in its own way.
Photo by Brett Sayles from Pexels