OH BEAUTY, HOW TRICKY IS THY CURSE!
Have you ever fallen in love with something so beautiful yet so POISONOUS?
We went on a road trip yesterday and could not help noticing the hills suddenly adorned with pretty purple flowers.
From afar, the sight was stunningly scenic. It was as if the ground felt cold and a lovely fairy threw a diaphanous violet blanket over it.
And so we just had to stop and search for an area where we could take some photos. Even if it was not really the purple flowers we came for but the yellow ones from the canola fields all abloom right now in the fields surrounding Canberra. Finding a photo-perfect spot to capture the purple delight did not turn out be easy though.
They were either on the hills far, far away or in fenced properties. When we finally found some flowers that were nearby, they were fenced in a "cemetery reserve," (!) whatever that means.
There was a steel fencing at the entrance and we found ourselves bending and twisting our bodies to go through the singular hole that could serve entry to the property.
The lengths one would go to indeed when fascinated... attracted... and captivated.
We spent a good half an hour taking turns, for photos and videos as well, even starring our pet dog, Mayo.
And then today I proudly shared my photos with my friends here in Canberra, one of whom forwarded to me an article about what we thought were beautiful purple flowers.
They are not flowers but weeds christened as PATERSON'S CURSE! The name itself gives it away. It is poisonous and is even considered a plague. It is a rare Spring nuisance that can damage natural flora and fauna and even kill farm animals including horses!
I was shocked but when the shock was over, it made me think of objects - or even people - in our lives that may hold such a fascination for us. They are the stuff of dreams, we think, unaware as we are of the poison, the damage, and the destruction that they bring.
We chase these material dreams or these people whom we idolize or fantasize about. We go after them. We pursue them. We become slaves to them. We do anything just to have them, own them, possess them, or be like them.
We do not realize that they are tricky monsters whose effect on our thoughts, spirits or lives may be like a curse. We need to wake up from our reveries. We need to break the spell. We need to cut the ties that bind.
I shared the news with my daughter, the newly-turned-22 Ingrid, who was wearing a mini dress yesterday and who complained of itchiness and some thorny pricks on her legs from when she walked through the violet "curses."
She expressed worry and concern the poison could be gotten not only from ingesting the weeds but also through contact alone.
I said to her: "Don't worry, Tam, the article says it is poisonous when eaten by farm animals. I don't think you would have been poisoned just because it touched your skin."
And my sweet daughter replied: "I'm not worried about myself at all. I'm worried about Mayo (our tiny dog)!"
In life, the best antidote to poison is love. And expressions of it, no matter how small or brief, can uplift, reaffirm, and resurrect even an already poisoned soul.
Look around you. Are there people whose souls need an antidote to any poison this life has dealt them?
Bless that curse away!