Bear Grass - It Grows In Sun or Shade

I was on Facebook recently and a post from Hmong Kitchen came across newsfeed that caught my attention.  A young woman had posted a picture of a plant that looked highly similar to asparagus… almost as if it could be the Jekyll to asparagus’ Hyde.  The individual was asking where Jekyll could be found and whether anyone has spotted it at the grocery store as it was highly desired.  Much like many of us do on Facebook, but religiously deny – lol, I started to read the comments. (Haha, admit it.. you do it too.) Although most of the comments served as entertainment (per usual) and after a few laugh out louds, I quickly realized that a majority of the commentees actually knew a good amount of information about this unique Jekyll asparagus looking plant later revealed to all of us as “bear grass.”

Being curious myself, I went to Google and started to do some research on the background, edibility, and nutritional value of bear grass. What I discovered upon doing this research was how much the lifeline of bear grass parallels to the lifeline of finding love.

Let me demonstrate here by sharing an excerpt and replacing portions about the "bear grass" with the word “love” instead…

“Reading about love, I learned that its seedlings can require 10 to 12 years before blooming. Also, that many nursery seedlings die soon after being planted. Division, or transplants, bloom sooner. Every time love blooms, and sets seeds, it dies. In cultivation, love has been more sought and attempted than achieved and enjoyed, and has been far more leafy than floriferous. Having watched it in my garden for at least 16 years, and recalling only two or three years therein when it deigned to bloom, I attest to its shy flowering, but also assert that even it were never to bloom, its foliage alone is lovely. It forms a dense evergreen mound of fine beauty. It neither needs watering, nor is hurt by it. It grows in sun or shade. When it does bloom I feel like I won the lottery."

In the excerpt, I highlighted three lines that automatically popped out at me.

1. "In cultivation, love has been more sought and attempted than achieved and enjoyed, and has been far more leafy than floriferous."

In life, we often spend more time seeking and attempting love while only a few of us actually achieve or fully allow ourselves to enjoy it. More so, we often tell ourselves that love should look a certain way (floriferous - flower like) and often deny it of its natural leafy personality. This makes me ask myself how differently our happiness could look like if we took love for what is actually is rather than expecting it to be more that its natural state...

2. "I attest to its shy flowering, but also assert that even if it were never to bloom, its foliage alone is lovely."

Love is often referred to as bold and daring... that it takes guts to love openly and that love makes you do crazy things. Although I wholeheartedly agree to an extent, I also believe that we often forget that love is also very shy. Love takes time and the crazy part is that even if it never fully blooms, the feeling of it alone (the foliage) is enough to carry us through. The danger in this is that love can also carry us through dangerous paths that are sometimes, better left behind. 

3. "When it does bloom I feel like I won the lottery."

When you fall in love with someone who makes you feel equally loved, it truly feels like you have won the lottery. A friend of mine and I had this discussion not too long ago that the chances of you loving someone as much as they love you, despite all the imperfections and baggage, is rare. In some sad way, I'm starting to believe that perhaps winning the lottery is more probable than finding this "other half of mine"... who knows, maybe I should let my guard down and genuinely give it a try (the lottery that is!) Haha.

All jokes aside, although I can easily state I have never set eyes on bear grass nor have my lips ever touched it... I cannot say the same when it comes to love and maybe, just maybe, that is the missing variable in this equation. Regardless, it is truly fascinating how the things that can feel so complicated in our lives are so easily demonstrated through the most simple constructs. In this case, how the complications of seeking love is much like the cultivation of bear grass - both existing in completely different universes yet sought after by many and only truly found by few.

Mind blown.