Heroes Not Zombies

Both of these images are beautiful and I think that in each of them we see a way of growing.

The image on the left is an unfurling. It’s an opening up, a revealing, a bursting out. The outer surface splits apart to allow the inner flower to come into the world. Buds are a powerful example of growth. We see them everywhere in the Spring. They start as small swellings, then their appearance becomes more complex as they grow, then they open up. This opening up, this “flourishing”, is one of the main ways of growing in the world. It’s a blooming, a blossoming. Beautiful. Isn’t this what we hope for in ourselves and our loved ones? That we are able to realise our potentials, that we are able to unfold and reveal our uniqueness, that we develop, grow and mature in a way which we could only call “blossoming”?

The image on the left is a connecting. This is a reaching out, a stretching out, a spiralling upwards, downwards, along until we find something else to catch on to, then investing power and energy is creating a strong, resilient bond. This is a second, equally important, way of growing. We grow by making connections, forming bonds, developing strong, resilient relationships. We grow by finding and connecting to “the other”…..to other beings, other parts of our environment, other parts of ourselves even.

So, in these two images I see two of the most fundamentally important ways of growing and developing – unfurling and connecting.