THE LITTLE PRINCess
The Little Prince is one of the most poignant reads I ever read. I always reflect on the story of him and his rose. This line sticks out to me the most “It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important.” Sometimes, our attention to things is what makes those things so important. The relationship between the little prince and its rose is one that caused me so much self exploration. I begin to wonder why I gave so much attention to xyz? Was all of my attention towards said thing even worth it? Could I have placed my attention towards a more profitable pursuit? Then all the questions I ask myself dissipate when I think of how much joy I gained from doing so.
See, the little prince, fell in love instantly with a rose in his asteroid. The little prince showed so much care and concern to the rose. The rose with its thorns seems defenseless and susceptible- and yet, she shows off her thorns and puts on a superior attitude. Eventually, the rose’s vanity and demands cause the heartbreak of the little prince. And thus, he decided to leave the asteroid and the rose. Here’s some excerpts I pulled from the internet, just in case you are interested:
“She cast her fragrance and her radiance over me. I ought never to have run away from her… I ought to have guessed all the affection that lay behind her poor little stratagems. Flowers are so inconsistent! But I was too young to know how to love her…”
Just before the prince leaves, the rose said to it’s prince :
“Of course I love you,” the flower said to him. “It is my fault that you have not known it all the while. That is of no importance. But you — you have been just as foolish as I. Try to be happy…”
The best part of the story is that The Little Prince always believed that his rose was the only rose until…
On his voyage to the earth, he come across a huge rose garden, and he realised that his rose was not the only one in the universe.
“There might be millions of roses in the whole world, but you’re my only one, unique rose.”
This showed me that WE make things special. WE illuminate that thing in our life, whether it be a person, a profession, or a tangible object. Our love is what gives it its specialness.
This is the best line thus far and I always revert back to it when life starts to crumble a bit…
“. . . One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes. . . . It’s the time that you spent on your rose that makes your rose so important. . . . You become responsible for what you’ve tamed. You’re responsible for your rose. . . .”
Maybe I’ve been the rose, maybe I’ve taken the love that’s being given to me for granted, and thus, I forgot to take care of the love itself. And as a little princ(ess), I may need to go around the world to realize that my rose is the only one because ‘anything essential is invisible to the eyes…’ Even though the rose is being portrayed in the story as a vain, foolish, frail, and naïve creature, the little prince loves that rose.
This story helped me see the entire purpose of our existence here on Earth. I think we are all here to LOVE despite the many thorns we are poked by in life. Find your rose in life. 🌹 Happy Memorial’s Day to all that sacrificed their lives just so that I could live mine 🇺🇸
