Everyday Canvas

Weeds and Insight

Prompt: A weed is but an unloved flower."
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Write about this quote in your blog entry today

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I have to say that the nature of beauty changes from eye to eye. In other words, beauty is subjective.

In plant life, most weeds can be beneficial for our ailments, although we don't want them in our flower beds as they have a knack for taking over and harming or crowding out the flowers. When the quote applies to people, however, it may mean that human beings who may be seen as undesirable or troublesome may have hidden qualities that go unnoticed and unappreciated.

What we see as flaws or shortcomings in others may be unique qualities waiting to be appreciated. Such human weeds, too, like in plant life, can reveal their true use when given the understanding and opportunity.

Among such individuals, Nikola Tesla comes to mind. From my Google search, *"Tesla invented, predicted or contributed to development of hundreds of technologies that play big parts in our daily lives -- like the remote control, neon and fluorescent lights, wireless transmission, computers, smartphones, laser beams, x-rays, robotics and, of course, alternating current, the basis of our present-day electrical system."

Yet, Tesla was not a savvy businessman and suffered financially. From my Google Search again, **"Tesla had obsessive compulsive disorder, which compelled him to do things in threes, including only inhabiting a hotel room that was divisible by the number three. He had an obsession with pigeons and an aversion to women wearing earrings, contributing to his reputation as eccentric. He suffered a nervous breakdown when he was young, and may have had dementia before he died. He never married." I had also read somewhere that he is deemed as being autistic posthumously.

Now, was Nikola Tesla a weed? Maybe to the people around him at the time. He might have been looked at as weird and wacky. But look, how useful he has been to humanity!

This means we need to seek the hidden beauty in people who may be overlooked or misunderstood. It is a reminder for empathy, understanding, and open-mindedness so the unique qualities and potential in each person contributes to a more inclusive and compassionate human family.


*https://dragonattheendoftime.com/nicola-tesla/

**https://www.aaas.org/brilliant-and-tortured-world-nikola-tesla