Have you ever held a long term belief, only to find much later that you had been mistaken or misinformed for years? Perhaps a long held belief about a person, place, or thing?
For 56 years I held the belief that the white flower that grows in the wild in Indiana in July, “Queen Ann’s Lace,” was to be feared. My mother told us as kids to never touch it, to never get close to it, because it was full of chiggars. I always noted that there was a black speck on every one of them. I would walk way around these flowers so as not to get near them. I abhorred even their sight as they popped up all over the countryside every summer. How disgusting!
Imagine the horror I felt when last summer someone brought a bouquet of flowers to a meeting, and right there in the middle of the bouquet were several Queen Ann’s Lace! I immediately shared my concern about that flower, and everyone in the group was stunned with my story. They dispelled my concerns – every person in the group. How can this be? Everyone seems to agree that these flowers are harmless, in fact, beautiful? Beautiful? All these years I had held an impression about these flowers – I hated seeing them everywhere. Now I find my belief was simply not true?
There are hundreds of these flowers growing wild on our property. Even after my new-found learning, it took me quite some time to get near them…just too many years of judgment to release. Upon closer examination, I noted that the black speck is always in the middle. It is simply the flower’s center, not some insect to be feared.
Last week my granddaughter took a walk with me down our lane. I was explaining to her the beauty in Nature. She asked if we could make a bouquet of flowers, something we do every year. Excitedly, we picked a couple purple clovers, white clovers, a pink sweet pea and a white sweet pea, little miniature wild daisies, and, yes, a Queen Ann’s Lace. Sierra lovingly admired her bouquet and asked, Grandma, “Can I get another Queen Ann’s Lace? It is so beautiful!” To see her totally mesmerized by the beauty of the flower made me gaze in awe. Quite a different impression I am leaving her with as I explain the beautiful energy given to us by Mother Nature’s flowers.
The Queen Ann’s Lace was a wake-up call for me. What other beliefs and judgments am I holding that are simple not true? What judgments am I making about other things, other people?
What long held beliefs are anchored in your memory bank that perhaps now need to be released?
Thank you, Mother Nature, for teaching us all yet another of your insightful lessons.
