Invasive thoughts

I feel like I'm constantly reminded of my faults this summer. I'm flaky. I'm careless. I'm messy. I'm self-absorbed. I'm wishy-washy. I'm not good enough. I'd be a better (person, mom, friend, etc.) if I just (fill in the blank). Invasive thoughts.

I went with my thoughts about all my faults to sit in a little patch of meadow with something else that is invasive. These purple flowers (which I've incorrectly called purple thistle) are spotted knapweed, an invasive plant that crowds out native species. The knapweed is prolific here, but there are also some tufts of fleabane, a few hardy Queen Anne's lace, and some stalky mullein hanging around in here, too. The native plants are putting up a good fight.

This knapweed is prickly, but it's also pretty. It creates a sea of purple that I think is beautiful. And although it's invasive, the monarch butterflies seem to love it. It can't be all bad, right?

Maybe reminding myself of my faults isn't all bad, either. Maybe finding a way to look at some of them in a different way is beneficial? Or, reminding myself of them keeps me working to move past some of the pricklier ones?

I don't know. But I'll keep working on it. For now, I'm going to try to stop beating myself up about everything that's wrong with me and work on letting the good thoughts take root.

Aside from that, I've got a little catch-up to do this month here--I missed a few weeks.