perks of insomnia: u can take pictures as the sky changes -please don’t delete my caption

F L O U R I S H

B Y D A N I K A G O V E N D E R

Flourish. Flourish like wildflowers. Spread your roots vast and wide despite how much sand and mud may be weighing you down. Like golden tickseeds, sunflowers and California poppies, no matter how deep you were buried grow here and there and everywhere, even where no one expected you to and enjoy the moment of surprise in their eyes when you peep out of the ground and they finally see the sun illuminate your petals and leaves.

Flourish like alien invaders. Show people that there isn't just one place where you belong and though they may try, they can't make you feel otherwise; because you will crack open the ground where ever you please and then out you will beautifully sprout. And like the Jacaranda tree in South Africa when they try to push you out of an ecosystem simply because you are different stand tall, ignore them and continue to sway your branches peacefully in the breeze, because you are comfortable in your own trunk and you like the way you branch out, scattering beautiful purple flowers all around making a change to the landscape.

Flourish like evergreen trees. All year through. Make sure people know they cannot have you in the bitter winter and then be rid of you by the time it's spring. Show the ones you love that while you'll soak up sun with them in the summer you'll still be there to rake up the fallen leaves autumn brings. And like conifers, stand tall, your trunk firm, so when snow falls upon your branches and coats your leaves beautifully contrasting with their green you still look like art, putting the cold weather back into your craft.

Flourish like nitrogen fixing plants. Give nutrients back to the soil passing it onto your friends and even your foes to say thank you because they helped you grow. Like blue lupins, licorice plants and rooibos bushes, pass it on to even those you do not know so you can help them bloom too.

Flourish like xerophytes adapting to situations and environments so when the rain is gone, you can live without. And like succulents and cacti have enough water within you to find joy in the drought.

Do not put up thorns in fear of being picked upon and do not stay small in fear of pesticides and weed killer. Flourish, take the risk and grow so big that when people walk through a field you are not just another plant they will step on.

Flourish like a lily, knowing that the beauty of other plants, the stunning folds of the roses and the plentiful leaves of the ferns does not take away from the gorgeous green tint of your petals or the magnificent curve in your leaves. The way you hold pollen is still special and you are still beautiful.

So flourish keep your petals facing the sky and your leaves soaking in the sun. Keep your pollen sweet despite the mud splashed on your leaves. This way you can befriend more honey bees.L eave some seeds everywhere you go so that something beautiful can grow. Sway violently along with the wind and when the storms come down, stretch out your flowers and leaves so when the raindrops fall upon you they wash away any mud and they feel refreshing.