The hard work of flowers

The film adaptation of Alice Walker's book,The Color Purple, is one of my favorite films. Most people in my close circle can spit out a quote or twenty at any given moment. (You sure is ugly!)

I don't know how old I was the first time I read the book, maybe I was around ten... I definitely saw the movie first, because I remember thinking, as I was reading the book, "this is so much better than the movie!"

The quote below is one of the many that have stuck with me over the past 25 years. I believe this was the idea that supported me in understanding the value of appreciation, for others and for myself, and it is the reason why I want more plants in my apartment. I was sharing with Mr. Gold, that I know plants only want to be appreciated... that is why they grow and bloom so beautifully. They want to be looked at and appreciated for who they are, just like all things. Shug Avery says it best,

“I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it. People think pleasing God is all God cares about. But any fool living in the world can see it always trying to please us back.”

All of the amazing things around us are happening around us, whether we notice them or not. When we try to find these beautifully amazing things in our world and then give thanks (out loud or to ourselves) for the experience, we allow opportunities for additional amazingly beautiful experiences. Today I want to say thank you to Alice Walker for giving me the language to appreciate what is around me; for giving me the opportunity to read a story and learn about myself from her characters. Thank you for writing a book that made me want to read more books, made me want to write and continuously makes me want to give praise for the small things, like a purple flower. Alice Walker, I am Gold today because of you.

Well, as Laurence Fishburne says in the movie right before Oprah Winfrey punches Rae Dawn Chung in the mouth... "time to go!"