After reading this article at Brain Pickings, I purchased a book by Yoko Ono called The Invisible Flower(paid link). It’s a short story picture book written in 1952 by Ono and produced beautifully by Sean Lennon. The gist of the story is that there is a beautiful flower that everyone can smell but no one can see – except for Smelty John.
“the one (book) you sit with on a bad day to remind you that life, even at its most difficult, is a scavenger hunt for beauty.” ~ Maria Popova, Brain Pickings
Ono wrote the book ten years before meeting her Smelty John – that is, John Lennon. She says that when she met Lennon, she “knew immediately that he was the only one in the world she was not invisible to.” This book now has a prominent place in my office so that I can revisit it regularly.
My mission is to teach that there is always more to see. And also, that what we personally see is unique. This book serves as a reminder that we each have something that only we can see. And, it’s up to us to figure out what that is and bring it to the world. It’s what makes us different from anyone else and too often, we try to hide that difference.
‘Did you know, you were born as the first, and the last and the best and the only one of your kind, and that eccentricity is the first sign of giftedness?” ~ Clarissa Pinkola Estes
By bringing forth our difference, we’ll naturally find the people with whole we’re not invisible.
“What we personally see is unique”. I like that and feel that is why we should remain true to ourselves at all times so that we emanate what we see!
Emanate – I like that word, Sandra.
This is a lovely post, we all have a place and we all have a unique contribution to share…thank you for sharing this story. I often wondered about John & Yoko Ono, at the time they seemed a strange union to me, but now I see things differently, I use a different lens!
Thanks, Susan. Using a different lens is always an option, isn’t it?
“By bringing forth our difference, we’ll find the people that we’re not invisible to” – yes, love that! I would rather be invisible to most by being myself, and authentic, than to be visible by most being something else.
Yes, and you have to have a strong sense of self to be able to do that. Thanks, Kim.
Like Susan, I, too, lacked a sense of Yoko Ono at essence. She was rather visible, in the physical sense, at the recently aired Beatles tribute – and yet, she seemed to be happily engaged differently than the masses around her; a form of invisibility, I see that now. I love the concept of the Invisible Flower – and am a champion for all those struggling to accept that they see the world in ways others may not. I loved the time I’ve spent here with this post. Thank you Kim.
I too did not know much about Yoko Ono until I read the book about John Cage – Where the Heart Beats by Kay Larsen. Cage was the creator of the music piece – 4’33” – which was four minutes of silence (the music was created by the ambient sounds at the time it was played). Yoko was part of this group of avant-garde artists in New York in the 40’s and 50’s who were pushing boundaries big time. I imagine they were invisible to a lot of people at the time. Of course, it was in the 60’s when Yoko met her John. Whatever one thinks of her art, she’s been true to herself and the way she sees her whole life.