If a plant was hardy, easy to grow, good to eat, and produced a pretty flower and a playful spray of seeds, you would think it was a desirable plant.
Unless it was a dandelion. Then it’s a weed.
Or is it?
We label something a weed for our own purposes. Most often the label is given simply because it is growing where we want something else to be. It has less to do with the qualities of the plant and more to do with our perceptions of what ought to be.
The same is true with people. We label people who don’t fit our idea of what they ought to be.
I’ve learned to look for the heart in people, to appreciate differences and celebrate the great diversity of humanity. That’s led me to change opinion about labeling people as weeds.
The dandelion?
I’m working on that.