07/29/2024
I used to love sunflowers because I thought they faced towards the sun. This seemed simple and lovely, a reminder to be positive. The truth is even better. According to a article on NPR by Merrit Kennedy, “A young flower faces east at dawn and greets the sun, then slowly turns west as the sun moves across the sky. During the night, it slowly turns back east to begin the cycle again...The researchers found that the plant’s turning is actually a result of different sides of the stem elongating at different times of day.” It is the growth of the stem that turns the flower. When scientists tied up the flowers so they could not move throughout the day, they found they actually had decreased biomass. This is so much more realistic a metaphor and parallel for life. In times of growth, we are strongest if we can embrace both the light and the dark, more powerfully alive if we can move fluidly between all the emotions that make us human. Sometimes it takes great courage to keep moving when faced with the pitch dark of reality in ourselves and the world around us, but the reward is we can more fully appreciate the brilliance of sun on our face when it occurs.
When sunflowers reach maturity, they stop moving and face east where they can collect the most warmth and sun. We all know what times like this feel like, times when we feel centered, calm, in no rush to go anywhere. This is the prize for the work of moving even when growth is tiring. Unlike sunflowers, humans live long lives. Times of stillness and contentment are fleeting. Perhaps the universal draw of the sunflower is not so much about blind positivity as it is about moving to face both the good and the bad with equal grace, so that we are always growing.
Be the sunflower. Soak up the radiant beauty of all emotions. Move between darkness and light each day trusting a time will come when the light will win.
