Fire follower flowers is a term used about flowers that bloom after the land has been devastated by a fire. In many instances these flowers use the heat to their advantage in germinating and maintaining their place in local habitats.
The flower pictured here is Fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium). The beautiful and delicate pink-purple flowers of fireweed may seem a little out of place on a scorched forest floor, but in their beauty they feel right at home there. These flowers are often among the first ones to grow in areas burned by wildfires and can help in the recovery by providing food for herbivores, attracting pollinators, and stabilizing the soil.
What a profound thought. Something so beautiful and good born out of tragedy. We can find this among the human population as well. Some of my closest friends and dearest clients are people who are inherently wonderful humans and have bloomed in life after a wildfire-like start. How does this happen? Despite our beginnings with inherited generational trauma, imperfect genetics, assaults on or by our parents, and a whole host of other things that we have no control over, we do have the control to make choices that will lead our life down a path of righteousness and goodness. It’s up to each one of us.
Many people don’t have a parent who cared for them or they had parents that didn’t have the tools or capacity themselves to effectively raise children – and yet those may be some of the people with the greatest integrity and grit. Our start in life does not define us – what we choose to do with our life does.
So here is to all those precious ones who have been beaten, abused, neglected, put down, trampled on, or crushed, and who have made the conscious choice to let the scorchings of life lead them to being something most treasured and valued. You are loved and admired. On the days when you feel the loneliest or saddest contemplating what you have endured, remember that you are as beautiful and cherished as these fire follower flowers.
