In a magical garden, at a magical gardener’s, suddenly, out of nowhere, PUF, a new flower appeared. No one planted it, no wind blew the seed, it didn’t take many days for it to grow. In the blink of an eye, in literally a second, a tiny cloud appeared, the one you probably know from comics, and as quickly as it appeared, it made its fairytale PUF and disappeared, leaving behind a small flower. It measured only 5 cm (run to check with a ruler or measuring tape how small it is). It had only two green, small leaves, a thin, triple stem, but slightly twisted, looking like a braided braid. His roots lightly touched the ground, so he could get everything he needed from it, but at the same time move freely and explore the nooks and crannies of the garden. He was small, delicate, sensitive and… beautiful.
PUF – that’s enough for such an unusual plant to stand on the side of the garden, in the middle of the grass. For now, he is still scared, with all the petals of her blue flower curled inwards. The flower was trembling slightly, but not because of the gentle wind that touched all the plants in the garden, but simply (even this magical world) – it was afraid. He stood there, trembling slightly, for some time until the fear subsided a little and he began to feel that the sun was warming him gently, the earth under his roots was pleasant (the kind from which plants get everything they need for life), and the wind was gently swaying him, as if it wanted to encourage him, to relax. When he realized that nothing had happened to him so far, and that he had been standing there for some time, he slowly and timidly revealed one blue petal.
– Hmmmm… it is not scary here. I don’t see anyone else, who would like to pick me up and put in a vase. I’m not in the middle of the road and I don’t think I will be trampled. There is also no animals to dig out to hide your treat here.
He observed, looked around and slowly, slowly became more and more bold in looking at the world. But how long can you stand alone in the middle of the grass? It’s nice here, yes. And a bird is singing somewhere, and a stream is rustling somewhere, and the sky is so beautifully blue with clouds floating on it, but the flower very rarely grows alone – it is usually in the company of other friends. So, when our little blue flower was no longer afraid… at first timidly, root by root, and then with confident, springy and determined steps, he went for a walk around the neighborhood to look for other flowers.
He walked around looking for friends until, in the distance, right next to the porch, he saw entire flower beds. He was extremely happy.
– There are so many of them that I will definitely find company here! – and he clapped the tiny leaves and was about to run as fast as he could into the roots, but something stopped him. And instead of running away and saying hello, he started looking at all the flowers one by one.
He looked at them stealthily, from a distance, so quietly that they didn’t even notice him. First he started looking at the tulips. All of them were taller than him, with a more stable stem and larger petals. And at least two-tone ones! And these leaves! Thick, springy! They are certainly not afraid of strong winds. And they looked so beautiful among the entire group of their brothers and cousins. And our little flower looked at itself, at its stem tangled in a delicate braid, looked at its thin and tiny leaves, and finally touched its blue petals. And he felt so frail, so defenseless and so worthless. As if he had suddenly shrunk, hunkered down and lost some of his shine.
– No, they are too strong for me. They don’t even reach half of their stem. Maybe if I were bigger, we could make friends – thought the blue flower, who found a little more fear and uncertainty in himself instead of friends.
He looked further around the flowerbed. There were roses there – beautiful, red, proud and scented. They climbed among the vastness of their green leaves. So stunning that they had to defend themselves with spikes to keep everyone from touching them. Next, there were clusters of lupins – not with one flower, but with dozens of them, all of which fit on one stem so that their beautiful colors could be seen as best as possible. Just like the tulips, they stood in a group, which made them look even more beautiful.
Our blue flower looked further, searching for friends. His eyes landed on the poppies. Soaring, fluttering in the wind and looking with open petals and closed eyes at the sun. They looked like they were enjoying the moment, their freedom and their independence. As if nothing could bring them out of this blissful state. And they looked so brave and confident that the little flower once again cringed into himself, thinking about how much of a coward he was.
And so he watched, flower after flower. Seeing how they were stronger, more colorful, more independent, more charismatic, others calmer, more graceful, more noble – but they all seemed more beautiful and better than him. Even the little bluebells and lilies of the valley, which were similar in size to our little blue friend, seemed too good for him at that moment to make friends with. The longer he looked and compared, the smaller, sadder and worthless he felt.
Instead of all those beautiful flowers, our friend turned towards the stream and sat there, sad and subdued. He hugged his roots and bowed his flowery head low. The delicate petals curled again, dimming their glow. The flower was immersed in his sadness and comparing himself with others. And he thought about how all the flowers in this land were better than him and how lucky they were not to be like him.
He was noticed from a distance by Bear Zdzisio, who knew perfectly well what it means to be sad. He had felt it himself for a long time, so he couldn’t ignore it and decided to talk to the plant about the reasons for his worries.
– Good morning, flower – he said as gently as he could so as not to scare the plant. He knew perfectly well that his height, paws and fangs could terrify those who didn’t know him yet. – I see that you are curled up and you are hugging your roots tightly. Has something happened?
– I wanted to meet other flowers, have buddies and friends. However, I’m so small and frail, I’m just hopeless that anyone would want to be friends with me, said the flower, not even raising his eyes to see who he was talking to.
– But how did you come to feel so hopeless? – Bear asked, thinking that someone had hurt the flower. Maybe he said something to him because he was jealous of his delicate beauty?
– I stood at a distance and compared myself. Who am I with all these beautiful plants?
– Have you compared yourself?
– Yes. I stood there and saw that some were bigger, others stronger, others more colorful, others more delicate.
– And what does it mean to you that they are bigger, stronger, more colorful, more delicate?
– It’s obvious… that I’m worse than them! – and our little blue flower cried.
– But let me understand… what exactly makes you worse? – Bear Zdzisio tried to understand.
– Hmmm… – the flower stopped in her grief. He had to think before answering that question. – I’m worse because I will never be like them.
– Blue flower, yes, it’s true, you won’t be like them. You are a different plant, but does that mean you are worse? See how delicate you are, how wonderful your little leaves are, like a green stem twisted into a braid. You don’t have to be like others. You are beautiful exactly the way you are. And of course, you can grow, develop and take care of yourself, and see how far you have come, and talk to other flowers about the differences between you, but the differences do not make you better or worse. The way you are is enough, you are extraordinary. Never let anyone convince you otherwise, but don’t tell yourself otherwise either.
And there was silence, and the flower thought about these words, and the more he thought about them, the more he noticed what harm he was doing to himself. He realized that he had begun to doubt himself so much, comparing himself to everyone else, that instead of finding friends (as he had originally planned), he felt weaker and even more lonely.
And he looked at himself a little more tenderly. He saw beauty in his tiny size. He noticed that he was actually fine with the way he was. He even went to the stream to look at himself in the water – and to his surprise, when he looked at himself, he realized how unusual he was.
He straightened the roots, opened all the petals, smiled to himself and turned to look at the person who had helped him so much with this conversation. He was surprised and even scared at first when he saw the bear. However, he smiled gently and said:
– Yes, I know, I’m big, I have fangs and massive paws, but please don’t judge me by my appearance, just like don’t judge yourself. Just notice the differences between us – and he waited a moment until he saw that the words had reached the blue flower.
– Now come on – Zdzisio the Bear stretched out his paw – let’s go say hello to the flowers. They are my friends and we have known each other for a long time. I am sure that they will welcome you very warmly and willingly into their group. You just have to promise me one thing…
– What? – asked the emboldened and happy flower.
– That you will no longer compare and judge yourself. You may be smaller, more delicate, have different colors, but this in no way means that you are worse. Just as those flowers that are large, have larger leaves and thicker stems that smell more intensely, should not think that they are better. They’re just different. And that’s the beauty – Misio continued – both yours and theirs. The magical gardener always taught us this – that we can grow, take care of ourselves and try to bloom more and more beautifully, but regardless of what we look like, where in the garden we stand, who has more water, who has more sun and who has more fertile soil, who is bigger and who is smaller – so that we always appreciate ourselves and others now. No matter how much time they need to fully grow and no matter what they will look like in the end.
– Thank you, Misiu. I will remember, I promise! And if I have any doubts, I will come to you to talk, okay?
– Great! great idea! You are always welcome here.
And they went together, Bear Zdzisio and the flower, to say hello to the others and to watch and get to know each other, thinking about how different they are and how beautiful it makes the flower bed.
