Sunflowers rock. I think it’s awesome that when they’re “new” they stretch and re-position themselves to always face the sun; however, when they’re approaching their demise, they no longer do. The myth behind the sunflower is that a nymph named Clytie was in love with the sun god, Apollo. He loved Clytie, but soon turned his adoration towards Leucothoe. Clytie became enraged with jeoulousy and tried to ruin Apollo’s love for Leucothoe. However, Apollo wasn’t having any of that and he turned Clytie into the sunflower. But even as a sunflower, Clytie never stopped loving Apollo. For this reason,, sunflowers represent adoration.
I snapped the photos in this post because the sunflower grew in a field where everything else was dead. But regardless of the dry and barren field surrounding the sunflower, its vibrancy wasn’t contained; I could feel the flower call me. I had to capture what I could before the flower’s end came.
Beauty is fleeting and the stories behind beauty find their own endings. But that shouldn’t stop anyone from seeking it and capturing as much beauty and strength as we can. We should love and adore life; it’s a gift that if appreciated, it will reveal the great secrets of the universe to unfold within our souls.
I guess that’s why I don’t understand self-destructive behavior. There’s so much to learn and appreciate during our own fleeting lives that it doesn’t make sense that we would want the drab suffering associated with so many unhealthy behaviors. It’s as if we want to become a dead weed in a field, rather than live our lives adoring light and positive energy. Sure, we can’t live in a pollyanna-bubble where there’s absolutely no suffering. But suffering doesn’t have to be the norm; it should be exception to lives that are well-lived. Maybe life hasn’t beaten the hope out of me yet; but when i see beauty and strength and goodness, i not only want to experience it, but I also want to capture it as a reminder to myself that life presents a bunch of opportunities to recognize all that is good and strong and beautiful.
Maybe in my next life i’ll come back as a sunflower and spend the better part of life adoring the sun’s energy. Or maybe I can spend this life adoring all that life offers because I may never get to be here again. Maybe we all should…
