Photo by Zen SutherlandThis flower with the bumblebee is Closed Gentian. It's rare in our neck of the woods. It's called 'closed' because it can't open by itself. The only pollinator strong enough to pry its petals apart is the bumblebee. Without the bumblebee, Closed Gentian would never bear seeds and would soon be gone from the earth.
I've watched bumblebees pollinate this lovely blue flower. It looks more like wrestling than caressing. Pollinated gentian of this species look bedraggled after a bee's embrace. The term dishabille comes to mind. Also Rumi's advice about rowdy visitors in The Guesthouse:
"Welcome and entertain them all, even if they are a crowd of sorrows who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture. Still treat each guest honorably--he may be clearing you out for some new delight!"
This is the counter-intuitive logic of mindfulness practice. In the unwelcome and the uncomfortable and the frightening we find some our most helpful allies. When we really want to become fully alive, we learn to try to take help wherever we meet it. There are places in our hearts that will never open without help.
