Mother Nature reminded me not once, but twice, today that nothing -- not even hard concrete pavement, or a chain-link fence -- can tame or cage a courageous spirit determined to flourish against the odds.
It brought to mind two very different inspirations from my childhood, a throwback to the late 70s and 80s:
(1) Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise,” originally written in 1978, now adapted by me as a tribute to the courage embodied by my new floral friends:
You may imprison me with your narrow minds,
Your doubts of my capacity;
You may try to stifle my protests and cries,
But still, like a wildflower,
Towards the sun I’ll rise. 🌺
You may bury me under
Concrete so heavy and deep;
You may obscure me in the shadows
To dim my being with your lies.
But still like a wildflower,
Towards the light I’ll rise. 🌼
(2) The chorus from Matt Wilder’s 1983 song, “Break My Stride”
“Ain’t nothing gonna break my stride
Nobody gonna slow me down
Oh no, I’ve got to keep on moving….” 🏃🏻♀️
Yes, there are days -- far too many of them in this wild rollercoaster ride of a year -- that may break the heart, but we can’t let them break our spirit. We must keep moving upwards and onwards, towards the light. If these resilient flowers can find a way, so we humans can, too. 🙏🏼💖✊🏽✊🏿
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