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manifesto monday : names

3.15.2010



i have a hard time with names.
sometimes. not most the time.
but those sometimes are awkward moments indeed.

i did a lot of reading this weekend
{so happy about this...i read, in spite of how busy i was!}
through all of my reading i realized i had some serious
name-learning to do.
i need/want to learn the names of as many
plants, vegetables, fruits, trees, flowers,
bugs, birds, animals as possible.
i want to learn them all.
i feel a child-like excitement about all of these things as of late.
this fervor started when i realized that not only should
i know where my food comes from,
but i should know all of its varieties by name...
enabling me to love these plants even more.
how can you love someone/something if you don't even know its name?!
i feel like i witness little miracles daily...and often i am unable to hide my emotion...
yesterday alone i cried at least six times just thinking
about the beauty in the world and what a gift it all is.
i hope we take care of it, and learn how everything works together
to support our own lives.
and we can start by learning names.
i will introduce myself to the bushes outside,
"hello, i'm ann marie. i'm your neighbor.
what's your name? oh yes, it's perfect. so fitting.
is there anything i can do for you?
what are your interests? what do you like to eat?
would you like to join me inside my little apartment?"
perhaps my human neighbors will see me talking to plants and crawling creatures
and feel justified in their notions that i am a bit off my rocker.
totally worth it.
don't you think?

this i believe.


{by the way, i took this photo of blossoms last year,
on the university of utah campus...does anyone know
the name of the tree that bears these beautiful blossoms?}


11 comments:

Alena said...

I won't think you're crazy if you talk to the bushes. Sean reacquaints himself with ALL of them almost daily. I think they’re on a first name basis.

Kerry O'Gorman said...

So worth it!! Some of my best conversations are with the trees!

Courtney said...

Oh Ann, I love this photo--it would be pretty in Emma and Jane's room!

And I agree that knowing a name makes all the difference. I've always been good with human names--not so much with rocks, flowers, and earth. I'd like to learn more too.

Sara said...

beautiful picture! I wish I could learn the names of things too, I am horrible with names.

Tiffany Kadani said...

Names are so important when you are a teacher. People respond to you so much more when you call them by name. It brings you closer more than anything else. I would love to be one of those people who knows the names of flowers, paintings, and birds. It just says so much about what they are.

Katherine said...

I think the world would be a lot happier if we were all more connected to the food we eat and the environments that surround us, the air that gives us life, and the sunshine that supports numerous little lives in our own homes and yards. It's a lovely desire that you have to develop a relationship with your earth.

thais said...

I wished I knew the name of these beautiful blooms. And if I could - I wished I would know the name of all of them :)

Aline Correa said...

I wouldn't think you were off your rocker! I would join right in and ask the same questions :D

kelly ann said...

i would love to know all the names of pretty flowers and trees and other things! i wish, that would be wonderful.

Tree Peeps said...

Looks like Malus (apple) based off the flowers and shape of the leaves. Since it was on U of U campus, I bet it was Malus floribunda, a flowering crab apple.

Liz / Tangible Ingredients said...

I love that you cry in response to the vast crazy beauty we are surrounded in... I think it's so important to stay connected emotionally to this environment, to this universe, to the bushes.