I was walking across the parking lot yesterday and I found this acorn just sitting there in the middle of a space. Of course as I see this acorn sitting there my brain starts to jumping and my ADD takes over. I stop and look around trying to figure out exactly how that acorn got there. I mean seriously if it just fell out of a tree, that was enough bounce and roll that any cart-path-aiming golfer would be proud of the distance. So then it must have been a squirrel running across the lot with several acorns in his hands and he must of tripped and lost track of this one, or maybe he was attacked by a cat (one that is far more active than my lazy feline). Not being sure what exactly it was that caused this acorn to fall so far from the tree that made it, was just the right amount of incentive to get me to pick it up and see if I could find any evidence of what it was up to.
As I picked it up it seemed like any other acorn. Nothing to special about it. It had it’s little acorn hat, that’s the technical term (I’m a botanist), and it’s little pointy part (my professors were proud). It was extremely acorn-like in appearance and feel, except for one thing. As I was holding it in my hand I noticed that there was a small hole in it. So obviously I started to perform an acornectomy and take it apart. There was a hole and I wanted to know what was really in this little shell.
As I dug through and tore back piece after piece of acorn shell, I begin to see this little glimmer of green. Inside this acorn’s hard outer shell was one of the cutest little worms I think I’ve ever seen. He was all bright green on the top and the colors faded slightly till he became a pale yellow on his belly. He was beautiful. I kept him. His name was Herman. Yes, Herman the worm. People to this day still sing songs about my little Herman at summer camps across the country. Okay so the songs came before I found him, but he’s still cool.
The people in our lives aren’t much different than Herman, and I don’t mean they are green (unless it’s saint Patricks day and you are hard core). In order to survive in this world they have crawled there way into shells for protection and comfort.
Sometimes it takes a little extra looking to find where the true person is hiding in the midst of all the shells they put up for protection. It is even possible that all it takes for them to show their true self to you, is what it took from me to find Herman. I carried tha acorn around with me for a while. Eventually, Herman saw me as safe.
Take some time to invest in those around you. They may not open up to you immediately, but that’s ok. Don’t hold it against them. Give them time. Share your story with them, and one day they may trust you enough to share their story with you.
