A few weeks ago, I submitted a list of universal truths that I think we can all recognize and maybe even agree with. In today’s culture of division, isn’t it a pleasant and nice truth to simply agree? I concur and couldn’t agree more.
When writing that first list of truths, I found I had too much material for just one column. So here’s a second. Who knows, perhaps there will be more. I hope so, because I think finding things we can agree on, universally, is a positive - now perhaps more than every before.
Maybe that is universal truth number one: Finding common ground is a good thing.
Truth number 75: Colors - as in hues of the rainbow and beyond. You don’t give them much of a second thought until you are decorating. It is at that time that gray becomes at least 12 different distinctive shades with names like slate, dark slate, light slate, medium slate, sliver of slate, silver slate and beyond slate. The decision as to which to pick for the walls of your kitchen is hardly black and white.
Number 12: Weeds don’t exist. They are a category made up by humans, based on our desire for grass-filled yards and flower-filled, vegetable-filled gardens. Dandelions, creeping Charlie and even poison ivy were created for a reason and they have adapted to their environments to be so successful they are often deemed weeds.
Despite their weedy reputation, they are useful, if you see them as such. Dandelion flowers attract pollinators, like bees. The flowers of poison ivy serve as food for birds. All three have homeopathic uses. Both dandelions and creeping Charlie are rich in vitamin C.
Bottom line, like all plants, weeds serve Mother Nature, who doesn’t like her soil to sit empty. Instead, she fills in the blank spots with growth we humans have decided to label as weeds.
Number 43: Cheap wine can taste just as good as an expensive bottle. It all depends on the company you keep. Good friends and family beat a top shelf cabernet any day.
Number five: Time alone can be just as valuable as time together. It depends on the person and the relationship.
Number 1001: Sometimes an invention creates a product. What came first, wall to wall carpet or the vacuum cleaner? The answer might surprise you. The vacuum cleaner came on the scene in the 1920s, a decade or so later, the idea of wall-to-wall carpet came into being.
Number 997: Leaf blowers were invented for a reason, but I haven’t figured it out yet. I mean. If you want to get rid of leaves, don’t you have to do something more than just move them to another destination? How about a leaf vacuum - something that would suck them up and put them in a bag? Now there’s an invention worth inventing (if it hasn’t been already).
Number 772: Babies are born cute - for a reason. Puppies, kittens, hedgehogs, bunnies, piglets even all have certain characteristics that humans, at least, see as cute. Large eyes, a large head in relation to their bodies, chubby cheeks, a small nose and mouth all serve to trigger the cuteness factor. Cute makes us want to nurture - to complete those middle of the night feedings and diaper changes with an attitude of positivity, despite sleep deprivation.
Number one through one million: At the end of it all, all that matters is love. Who you’ve loved, how you’ve loved and how universally you’ve loved. All of it.
Go out and do that.
Jill Pertler is an award-winning syndicated columnist, published playwright and author. Don’t miss a slice; follow the Slices of Life page on Facebook.
