Roses being Roses
A rose does not struggle to be different
from other roses
Each rose, being itself, flawlessly
is different
A rose does not compete to
stand out as special ~
a rose is with other roses
never against
There is room enough in the garden
for all the different roses
expressing roseness
Cease trying to be special
~ you already are, everyone is ~
express your unique realness
effortlessly
Your gift to others is you
your sole, never-before you
blesses
Do not first seek how to express this
contact the place in yourself
where this already is ~
where you already are fully you
Then, Life will co-operate with you
manifesting your you outwardly
in joyful co-creation with others
So, remember the rose, and express gladly
your unique you
in the Garden of Life
* * *
I have had persons tell me I am different, you know, in that kind of serious, mystified-look way. Two examples... A former mother-in-law told me angrily that I was different. I think she wanted her daughter to have married a normal man, but I do not know what normal man would have meant to her. Anyway, I was not her kind of normal.
My Lieutenant, when I served in a jail system as Chaplain, said, looking intently, "You are different." I looked intently back at him. He broke the silence, noticeably uncomfortable, "Oh, I don't mean that in a bad way." I smiled, comfortably.
Yet, no one has ever given me a description of how I am different. And, is it not true we each are different? Regardless, who in their right mind would want to be just like everyone else?
True, in some sense, I do appear odd, at least when compared with the status quo out there. I realize I come over as a contrast to some persons' idea of normal, and maybe you do, too. The last thing I want said when I kick the bucket is, "Well, one thing I can say about Brian is, he had a gift at fitting right in with everyone else. Just an absolute cookie-cut guy." I would rather someone say, "Brian did not fit in. He never wanted to find a box to snuggle in with others. In fact, Brian was known to say, 'There isn't a box to fit in.'" Well, yes, there are make-believe boxes, and I walk on water in my bathtub, and I do not even have a bathtub. But, hey! you can trust what I say, trust me. Just suspend your common sense, and you will have no trouble seeing boxes everywhere. Feel free to jump in one.
* * *
In one sense, I do fit in with everyone else, but not in the sense most persons understand that. I have no aim to be appear odd. I just do to some persons. And, that is okay with me. Anyway, who decided not fitting in means one does not fit in? So, why not reach your hand into your brain, find "Fit in" and "Don't fit in" and throw both out? What are you left with?
* * *
If you are a purple tree, very good. Just do not try to be one. A purple tree trying to be a purple tree, that does not work. Purple trees, like a rose, do not have to put forth a lot of effort to be a purple tree - they are. In fact, if you are a purple tree, rather than a play-acting one, you did not decide to be - at least not consciously. Maybe something deeper than your awareness did choose to be differently different. Did your dog decide to be the dog they are? There is some truth to self-determination: some, that is all.
* * *
I saw two young men at the river where I lived some years ago. They had just come from kayaking. I asked about how their trip up-river was for them. They gladly shared. I relished the moments. They looked much different than I was used to, very different, but that was okay.
Later, I reflected, seeing how they would have been judged as abnormal, weird, even sinful likely, by most people from my childhood. They would have been seen as wrong, not right, outsiders, not insiders. Probably seen as two persons doomed to a devil's hell. Yet, thankfully, spirit challenged this socialization in me. Now, I feel the joy of seeing the humanness in the amazing tapestry of diversity - single, married, gay, straight, Christian or other religion ... - that makes up the human species - all species.
* * *
So, if you want to dye your hair orange, okay, I am fine with that. Or put a ring through your tongue. Or eat meat, or be vegan, or be vegetarian. Okay. Or be Christian, Orthodox Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, ... Okay. As far as the orange hair, I do not want that; anyway, I am mostly bald. I am okay with being bald, too. So, please do not go looking for my hair. I like the minimalism of baldness. Baldness is a good practice in simplicity. And, thank you for offering, but I will pass on the ring through the tongue, a meat diet, and identifying as anything officially religion. But, you can call me religious or spiritual or just someone aspiring to live a decent human life on Earth, if you wish, if not, okay, too.
* * *
Some people have not liked my being a purple tree. A lot of the Jesus people got pissed off at me, and some of it was my fault if anyone's, but a lot of it was I could not find a Jesus box to jump into; I do not even think Jesus could find a Jesus box. If he could not find his own box, how can I be expected to? Some of those people sought to hurt me deeply, and I did hurt deeply, but the pain opened my heart more to Life and the inner beauty within myself, within others, even within them. Yes, I have been treated like a saint and told, also, calmly and with a smile, "You're going to hell." Not, "Go to hell!" but "You're going to hell." That sounds final. Well, would I want to go to a heaven with people who seem rather contented with the thought of their own family members and close friends - well, anyone - frying next door, while they sing hymns, walk streets of gold, and praise their god forever and ever? To be sure, no, but, to be sure, I do not want to go where that religious fundamentalist told me I would go. I prefer cold winters to hot summers, so a hell is not on my wish list.
* * *
I have come to know we need not try to be ourselves, we already are that we are. We see it, we celebrate it, we live it, we do not try to be it. We are each a distinctive expression of the one Life, a ray of the one Light, even as is each leaf, each snowflake, each wave, each rock, each tear, each smile, each brush of wind against your face, each sunny day uplifting your mood and bringing warmth to the welcoming Earth - and, yes, each fart, each burp, each snotty nose, and each a lot of things we do not think of as the Good, True, and Beautiful. But, you cannot exclude anything and have, at the same time, wholeness. You may not want to see it or smell it, but it belongs in the Garden, for it is. Even that fanatic who told me, "You're going to hell" is in the Garden. He is a rose. And I am, too, whether he likes it or not.
* * *
Remember,
you're the one
you've been waiting for
so
stop, breathe deeply a few times, relax
let those shoulders drop
close your eyes, smile
say your name, your full name, and
"Welcome"
repeat this several more times
see, you're home
how could you ever have been anywhere else?
* * *
(C) brian k wilcox, 2025
