Heroes Not Zombies

Isn’t this the most glorious bee?

I’m no bee expert but I think this is called a “Carpenter Bee” (please correct me if you know better).

It’s almost completely black but has this iridescent purple colour on its wings. When I think “purple”, I think “royal purple”, and, actually we associate bees with royalty, don’t we? The “Queen Bee”. “Royal jelly”. I remember the three bees on the coat of arms of the Barberini family in Rome (Palazzo Barberini is an utterly astonishing gallery of art. Put it on your bucket list!)

We also have a number of bee metaphors in our language. “Busy as a bee”. “Make a beeline for”. “Got a bee in her bonnet.” What other ones can you think of? “Honey”, in English anyway, is a term of endearment. “I love you, honey”.

Do you see what’s happening here? A photo I’ve taken of a single bee sets off my trains of thought down pathways of the significance of the colour purple, the association of royalty with bees, memories of a long weekend in Rome, and a handful of associated metaphors.

That’s what we humans do. For every one of our experience is unique. If I just showed you this photo and kept quiet, you’d tell me your own particular thoughts, memories and musings. Our experience of this bee would be different for each of us.

Reality is an ongoing process of co-creation.