Once upon a time, in a beautiful garden, there existed blooms of all hues and sizes in blissful harmony. A group of flower friends soaked up the sun every day in their same patch of peaceful land. On this land lived Rosemary Rose, Donna Daisy, Fran Fern, Heather Hydrangea, and Lila Lavender. Their closeness and bond are what nurtured this patch of land and caught the attention of many ongoing spectators. Every day the flowers continued to grow and spread their seed among the patch of land.
Life was seemingly perfect, that is until one dark cloud gathered over the friend’s patch of land and later that day a storm blew through the peaceful garden causing chaos. In the midst of the storm, the group of flowers were ripped from their patch and strewn all over the landscape.
When they came to the next morning and realized that they were far away from their home plot, the group of flowers all shared emotions of worry and confusion as they looked around their new surroundings. However, they all agreed together to go out on a quest to find their plot of land in the garden rather than giving up hope.
The group of flowers saw many new blooms they had never come across before as they made their way around the greenery, including deep sapphire irises and flaming crimson marigolds. They all shared apprehensive feelings at first when approaching these strange blooms, but they quickly realized that regardless of the variances, they were all in likeness with their shared passion for their garden home.
Down the road, the group of flowers encountered obstacles that put their bond of friendship through testing circumstances. The most trying time during their journey was when the flowers came across some prickly thorns in their way which caused fear to rise among the group. Lila was alarmed and shared with the group, “There is no other way around!” Rosemary, the calming presence, reassured them saying, “Together, we can overcome anything!” The group of flowers would never have made it past the thorns on their own. Fran’s bravery, Donna’s hope, Heather’s ingenuity, Lila’s insight, and Rosemary’s encouragement enabled them to get past the difficulties and carry on with their quest.
While they set off on the unfamiliar path back to their soil plot, they learned essential lessons from the blossoming plants they encountered along the way. The sunflowers taught the group about perseverance since, even on the most gloomy and dark days, they were constantly facing the sun. The tulips taught them tolerance; as they patiently waited under the ground until it was time for them to bloom.
It was back in the center of the garden, where their relationship had first flowered, that the flower pals finally made it home to their plot of land. It cost the group many days of traveling across the garden after being displaced from the storm to reach their peaceful plot, but something felt different to the group. They all agreed that, like the many petals that fall from different stems, their uniqueness was what made them powerful. Suddenly they felt their plot was lacking the diversity they encountered on their trip back home and they no longer felt fulfilled by their plot of soil.
It became clear to the group of flowers that they all shared a desire to plant an assortment of seeds from flowers they met during their journey on their own plot of land in the garden as a symbol of their friendship’s value for diversity and togetherness. While tending to the young flowers, they vowed to support one another through any difficulties and to always appreciate one another’s uniqueness. Their plot of soil grew into one of the most colorful and fulfilling patches in the garden that was home to a wide variety of different blooms for years to come.
- The Diversity Garden – by Sammy Mckenzie - April 6, 2024