A Rose is A Rose, Such is Life

THE BIRTH OF AN IDEA.

Many years ago, I was reading a novel by the famed author Stephen King. I don't recall the exact title of the novel, but I can tell you that it was from his eight-part series titled "The Dark Tower." However, as I searched the web to find out which book in particular, I realized that the original line is from the American poet Gertrude Stein's poem "Sacred Emily," which was published in 1913.

The quote was "a rose is a rose is a rose." The beauty of this line is the many ways it can be interpreted. I suppose a simple "it is what it is" could potentially suffice, but I think that if you were challenged to push a bit further, to actually take the time to consider the statement, like an art connoisseur considering a sculpture or some abstract painting, you may find the subtlety to be more vast in its breadth than you may have originally perceived.

I was so graciously given this challenge by my wife. One day, while mindlessly scrolling through Facebook, I stumbled across one of those Facebook memory prompts. It was a simple post from all those years ago when I had first been reading King's series, and it was just that quote, a simple 8-word post. As I have always loved the broad abstractness of the line, I decided to reshare it to my feed and then went on with my day.

This is where the birth of an idea comes into play, after working for a couple of hours I decided to go for a drive to check another belt line. for context when I'm not paving in the summer I work at a power plant in the neighboring county just maintaining the various belt lines that feed coal to the power plant. So anyway I on my way to check the next belt line when I noticed I had a few Facebook notifications in relation to that 8 words post. When I opened it up I saw that my wife was one of the commenters. and it was a simple sentence that pushed me to consider why it was that I really liked that simple quote. so the following is a copy of that conversation.

Brooke: "Meaning “it is what it is” right?"

Me: That’s the beauty of it. It doesn’t have to mean anything more than what it says. Or it could be everything more than what it says. A rose is a rose is a rose.

For instance a rose really is just a rose.

You can look at it in a vase or in a bushel but it’s still just a rose. Yet, if you consider everything that makes up that rose from the point of seedling to sprout, to bushel to rose. Then add in the molecular structure and process of photosynthesis which In turn leads to literal conversion of elemental gasses, not to mention every little thing that happens inside each  individual cell, the pH balance of the soil, the amount of sunlight, just the right amount of water that it took to make any of it even possible! Well then, a rose can also be like it’s own little universe with a whole lot of things that could go wrong, but for that particular rose everything went just right. Then behold! A rose is a rose is a rose

"So, the reason I chose this story as my first piece to publish is kind of two-fold. Firstly, it never fails to amaze me that even something seemingly so mundane as a 12-year-old post can be like a seed planted and forgotten about. Only when it is exposed to a little light and then watered does it begin to blossom and evolve into something more than you ever expected.

To speak clearly, I knew that I had always loved that quote but was never challenged to consider why. My wife planted that little "thought seed." Then, I discovered a part of thought within myself that made me feel very connected. Not only to her, but really everything around me, including me and that particular moment that I was sharing existence with.

I think it will always exist as a core memory to me as it added, or maybe exposed, a layer of this crazy life that perhaps was always there. I just never noticed. So, this begs the question, at least in my mind: What other seeds are out there just waiting for exposure? Perhaps these seeds are where one can find meaning. Furthermore, just maybe these are the seeds that we plant unintentionally in the present that will eventually sprout into manifestation in our future.

If so, then we should take care in which type of seeds we plant now. So, in the garden of our future, we are surrounded by healthy growth and well-determined pathways.

Perhaps not. Afterall, none of us really know what is going to happen or the significance of what has already happened.  What we know for sure is this moment exists; we have this particular time and space to "be" in. So take joy in it when you can. If you ever get too far away from the moment you can always remember, "a rose is a rose is a rose."

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