One year when we were spending inordinate amounts of time at the Evergreen State Fair for 4H, there was a display of Noxious Weeds. After we looked at the examples at a booth on the fairgrounds, I can remember Shante pointing out the invasive plants at every siting. Noxious weed, noxious weed, noxious weed. They are literally everywhere!
A flowering vine, a seasonal ivy, grows in the yard. I feel hatred. The things climb the cedar limbs, pulling the branches to the ground. They choke out the plants, cover them, bury them, use them as a transport to the sun. Why do I have an emotional reaction? God’s plants. Survival of the fittest.
I do hate them. I yank them out at every siting. I plot against them, scheming ways to use ground cover and mulch to protect the other plants. Vinegar, vinegar kills some plants, maybe these.
But I like the other ivy, the evergreen, native ivy. It climbs all over, snakes into the grass, tries to occupy everything. Why do I have a preference? What is this emotional difference?
In the Landmark program, there is a phrase “Chocolate, vanilla, choose”. Of course, some love vanilla. But the follow up premise is “Chocolate, choose”. There are no options. Choose what is before you. Cancer, choose. I choose it. There is no battle. Noxious weeds, choose. I still hate them. There is still inner turbulence and emotional reaction to a stupid, flowering ivy. The moral of this story, I’m not as enlightened as I appear!
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