Find Your Thistle

“Two things cannot be in one place. Where you tend a rose, my lad, a thistle cannot grow.” ~ Frances Hodgson Burnett

Today, as I walked a neighborhood trails system of which I’m not Lokal to; it stood out to me that the Thistle that is usually a prickly nasty weed plant that and not very pretty, was blooming and the purple flowers perching atop the weeds were indeed striking.

I wondered how my own life could relate to a thistle. I continued to walk along the wild flower trail system in Highlands Ranch, CO and thought as pretty as the other small wildflowers were very pretty the Thistle weeds were taller and more striking. I wanted to get closer to them but knew walking into them I would be poked and pricked and maybe step on a snake laying lower in the weeds. I didn’t feel inside my comfort zone getting closer to them.

I knew at that very moment how a Thistle…could relate to my life. I was always afraid of certain things outside my comfort zone or didn’t pursue something because it just seemed like to much work. Maybe a marathon is too many miles to run or too demanding in training. A lot to be said about what’s comfortable. I felt I needed to embrace the prickly weed that I didn’t want to get close to and see what value it could add to my life and step outside of my comfort zone. And as the quote above relates…in order to enjoy the flower I wanted to I had to let the other pretty ones go and tend to the one I wanted but was afraid to get closer to.

I was near the end of the walk and decided that I would walk closer to the Thistle to grab a photo of something so striking. Again, I wasn’t enjoying the thought of being outside my comfort zone.

I approached and tried to find the best angle for the flower and the way it aligned in the cloud filled sky. I was about to photograph a weed…something that I haven’t done in years of shooting photography. I lined the shot…as I was getting ready to shoot this beautiful flower…something magical happened. A butterfly so delicate and soft landed on this weed I was so afraid to get near…my reward for stepping outside my comfort zone to Find my Thistle.