Not Every Sunflower Looks Like a Sunflower
Today I discovered something I didn’t know existed: A Teddy Bear Sunflower.
If someone had shown me only a close-up of the bloom, I’m not sure I would have recognized it as a sunflower. I would have called it
Big Bird. It’s soft, fluffy, bright petals reminded me of my childhood friend on Sesame Street.
This flower didn’t match the picture I already had in my mind of a sunflower with the familiar dark center was instead layers of a shade different yellow petals.
This was softer, fluffier, rounder…different.
Yet it was exactly what it was created to be. This made me wonder how often we do typecasting with people.
We create a mental picture of what confidence should look like, what healing should look like, what leadership should look like. or what strength should look like —Then we meet someone who doesn’t fit our picture.
Instead of expanding our understanding, we assume something is wrong.
But perhaps the problem isn’t the person or the picture we’ve been carrying.
Contextual Literacy reminds us that categories are useful…
…until they become so rigid that we stop recognizing the diversity within them.
Not every sunflower looks the same.
Not every healthy family looks the same.
Not every successful person leads the same way.
Not every act of courage is loud.
Sometimes our greatest growth comes when life introduces us to something that doesn’t fit the image we expected.
The flower didn’t change, only my understanding of what a sunflower could be.
Maybe that’s what learning often is.
Not discovering something entirely new…
…but allowing our picture of the world to become a little bigger.
