Eye of the Beholder

It has been a long wait for spring in NYC this year. March came in like the proverbial lion, roared with cold winds and occasional snow showers through most of its 31 days, and then went out more like a grumpy just-awakened bear than a lamb. On the first few days when the temperature rose above the 40's and the clouds parted, you could see winter scowls relaxing as New Yorkers turned their faces toward the sun, like so many sunflowers strolling down the street.

Flowers, of course, are the surest signs of spring. Tiny purple crocuses, blue hyacinths, jonquils and daffodils in more shades of yellow than we usually think exist. In the uber-urban part of town where our office is found, the first week of spring brought with it one place to find bunches of blossoms only a couple of blocks away: the Macy's flower show.

Each spring an artful display of flowers graces the main floor of the nearly 1-square block original Macy's department store on 34th Street. And each year, the flower show has its own theme. This year the theme was gardens that echo historical periods of art. Scattered among the displays of handbags and scarves, perfumes and jewelry, in mini-landscapes and hanging displays, were Renaissance Gardens and Pop Art Gardens, Impressionist Gardens and Post-Modern Gardens. The displays were alternately beautiful, charming, amusing, peaceful, or impressive—sometimes several of these at once. Tourists filed through, stopping to have their pictures taken in front of lush plantings of wisteria and cherry trees in bloom that would be gone in two weeks, leaving no trace.

But the flower show did not seem to be appreciated by everyone; shoppers driven with purpose, and maybe short lunch breaks, brushed brusquely past blooms blocking their way to upper floors, barely glancing at the blossoming buds all around them. While this New Yorker went to Macy’s specifically to see the flower show, other clients quite clearly did not.

Beauty is not the only thing in the eye of the beholder. Value, it seems, is also in the eye of the beholder. The recent events in Indiana come to mind as another example. It's one thing to brush past a lily as though it isn't of value, and it's another thing to brush off certain people as though they are of lesser value.

We humans have a long history of treating people different from us as other. The unknown: to be feared, avoided, kept at bay. Slowly, over many centuries, more and more of us have begun to embrace our differences, to open our hearts and minds to those with whom we do not share ideas, beliefs, or preferences. Yet even as we increasingly celebrate the vast diversity of this planet, some groups of people work to eliminate any differences, to demand conformity to their beliefs, or, at the very least, to shun the others.

While I consider myself fairly enlightened and open-minded, I realize I would do well to ask myself if there have been times when I have reacted to someone very different than me in a less than enlightened way, avoiding or ignoring an individual whose life circumstance or choices make me uncomfortable. If each of us, no matter how enlightened we may consider ourselves, would be mindful of the ways in which we devalue others and would make intentional efforts to examine what that fear in our hearts is, each one of us might broaden the scope of differences we embrace.

Imagine a world with no war, no discrimination, no killing of people because of their affiliations or preferences or beliefs, no destruction of centuries old art, no suppression of education or rights based on gender or any other human trait. True peace.

Flowers in spring are lovely, and something to look forward to. A world filled with peace and harmony would have plenty of room for those who like flowers, and those who don't. Let’s all live there.

Image by Ellerslie77 courtesy of iStock

Originally posted April 2015 under Metropolis ©The Leadership Program tlpnyc.com