When I first read this month’s “Reverb” prompt (at http://www.reverb10.com/), I knew immediately what I wanted to discuss in my response to “What’s Blossoming?” but I struggled most of the month with how to portray my idea. That struggle was born out of the fact that I am not sure that the quality I want to see in my children is blossoming yet. It was turning into more of a “gee, I sure hope this will blossom eventually” blog.
The good thing about Reverb10/Reverb11 prompts is this part of the instructions:
This prompt is yours to use as you like: answer it as-is on your blog, create a vision board, share your response in conversation with a loved one, make a short film. Get creative. Change the prompt as you like. Enjoy.
The “Reverb” community is, as you can see, pretty flexible so I am talking about …..
How children, tulip bulbs, start out completely self-contained. No one can see what they are going to look like, act like, think like, or be before they are exposed to the conditions that will nurture them into growth.
Once they do start coming into their own, they may often find themselves in a field of others just like them:
Other times, someone who doesn’t “match” will appear in their midst:
When my child finds himself or herself part of a group surrounding someone who does not look the same, will they see first that the newcomer shares almost everything they do – the same parts – even though they are different colors? Will they welcome the newcomer to the field? Will they say to their friends, “give them a chance, they just got here” when human nature takes over and peers imply that because the newcomer looks different they are going to have to pass some test to fit in?

Wife of one, Mom of two, Friend of many. My pronouns are she/her/hers.
This is a beautiful post! What a great analogy. I hope the same for my sons.
I think we can only hope that we ALL stand out as the red tulip. Who wants to be just like everyone else anyway?