Dream Journal #2 | "Violets or a Rose?"
It starts with fuzziness, as dreams often do. Suddenly you just appear somewhere, this time it was at an open field with very little to decorate the environment. Except two things, one on the left of my vision and the other on the right.
On the left was a gigantic rose. Unnatural in its’ size, at least one meter tall with gorgeous red petals and a very strong stem. It was standing on its’ own. It looked like it was genetically modified to be this enormous, in fact that was what was flying through my head as I was watching it. I don’t remember any smells or other stimuli, but I do remember that, despite strong winds, this rose didn’t move much at all. It looked extremelty steady and unwilling to fall.
On the right side were violets. Natural, small, as they always are, fighting against the wind in numbers…and there really were many of them. In comparison they looked tiny, almost underdeveloped, but they were not. Just normal violets.
Separating these two was just around 5 meters, otherwise than that the field looked almost like the old Microsoft homescreen. Plain, green field.
After my quick examanation, I heard a voice inside my head. A very raspy, yet calming and reassuring voice which started focusing my attention. It said:
“The rose to your left is magnificent. One of its' kind, never to be replacated again. Its’ size, stature, the shear magnetism of it is unparallaled. The reason this rose grew to be this strong is because the surroundings were all for her. The sun shone directly on its’ petals, no intereferences, no need to share the light. The food from the ground traveled solely to it and had only one goal: to make the rose as strong as it could be. The environment shaped this beauty.
On the right, the violets tell a different story. They live in numbers, they share their rations; from the sunshine to the food. They have no other choice. They are too small to fight the wind on their own, so their only protection is to live closely.
But there is a curse to both. While the rose had a chance (and took it) to become the greatest it could be, it sacrificed company. It lives alone and will forever stay alone, otherwise it sacrifices its’ beauty and strength. The violets will never feel that strength and will never grow to their full potential. There are too many obstacles in their path. But…they will never be alone.
This is the dilemma you face. It might seem that there is a middle way, but not for you. What you decide is what you will get.
Which one is it? Are you the rose or one of the violets?”
At this point I woke up. Now, this dream was years ago, but it left a surprisingly strong impact on me. In fact it still resonates with me today. I obviously know that roses grow in batches as well, they don’t grow as separate beings on their own, so from that perspective the metaphor is void.
But…I can’t help shaking the feeling that somehow this parable holds some weight. I’ve switched rolls a few times since this dream, from a rose to a violet and there and back again. Sometimes despair takes over when I think that perhaps these two extremes are all there are. Rationally I know that it is very unlikely. It’s much more complex and intricate than the metaphor would like to show. But I can’t help wondering sometimes, like I hear that raspy, comforting whisper in my head at odd moments: “Violets or the rose?”