Offer Your Colors and Flavor

The family saw Avengers: Infinity War yesterday. Believe it or not, I saw big connections with this week’s essay in Dear Teachers: Offer Your Colors and Flavor.

I won’t go into detail, but this movie centers around collaboration. As I wrote in this week’s essay, we all have a flavor: our color of our bloom. It’s our decision on if we hide it or expose it to the world.

I operate one way. You operate in another way. T'Challa works one way. Black Widow works another. The important part is this: trying and encouraging others to do as well. Together.

“Sure, we put ourselves at risk when we do this. We may be ridiculed or targeted with malicious intent. Yet, whether we are a vibrant monarch or dust-brown moth, the universe is a more beautiful place with our presence and participation.”

Spoiler alert: There are no guarantees!

We may fail. Repeatedly. We may have to battle the fear of failure or of offending someone by our choices. But, if we ourselves remember to be open to the whole garden, someone else will be more likely to see our bloom, appreciate it and choose to try blooming with us.

What's the vanilla (ordinary, but good) in our life? What's the spice (different, but also helpful)? How can they work together to (perhaps) achieve something positive?

@jillsh3 put it perfectly on Twitter, in regards to a teacher: “I wish I’d had a teacher like Julia in high school. No one is invisible to her. She sees the gifts, the beauty, the possibility in each of them - and helps them to see it in themselves.” (She’s referring to Julia E. Torres, who wrote another great blog this week, See What I Heard, on highlights from this year’s classroom.) We can all do that, in some way, if we try.

It’s our call.

I'd love to hear your vanilla and spice. Please feel free to comment below.