“Lantana is a high maintenance weed that will take over in the summer and die back in the winter. I hate it.” Yep. That’s what I said, and it is how I felt for most of my adult life. I have removed established lantana bushes from many yards.
Until…
Until is a powerful word. It marks a break, a transformation, a change. Whether it be a philosophical idea or an interpersonal relationship, it sparks hope. My rebirth from lantana hater to lover came when I stopped to take a picture of the flowers. Some lantana flowers are purple, others are pink, white, yellow, orange, red, truly a cornucopia of colors. As I focused closely upon their blooms, I saw their pulchritude.
Pulchritudinous doesn’t sound like it means “beautiful,” and that’s precisely why I used it—to be ironic, facetious, and just silly.
It seems to be the perfect word for my transformation. When I stopped looking for reasons to get rid of lantanas, I unknowingly opened ways to appreciate them. Taking a closer look, I saw the splendor of colors blending to create a rainbow of variety – each bloom slightly different than the others unique in and of itself.
People, creation, are a lot like that.
When we stop judging them, we unknowingly open up ways to love them. When we take a closer look, change the focus of our preconceived agendas of their limitations, they become pulchritudinous.
images credit: Rev. Paul A. Whitlock