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title: The Color Green

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# The Color Green
**by Michelle Jones**

Green is a very pretty color
It is the color of grass and the color of leaves that grow on the branches of the tree.
Green is the color of seaweed that moves back in forth in the ocean.
Green is the color that is calming and symbolizes growth for me.

Being a brown girl, born into this world in the 80’s, meant that I would be green too.
I would sit on my grandfather’s porch watching him work on cars, 
there was nothing around to move me or stimulate my mind, so I stayed inside my own head.
I depended on my imagination and creativity to keep my mind healthy. 
No one told me that a brain was a terrible thing to waste, but somewhere inside myself I knew that I wanted to use my mind for all sorts of things.

I was a peculiar child, and a peculiar adult.
I realize that I am still green, lime green depending on the subject matter.

I am forever growing.
Forever trying to reach my potential like spring leaves that grow back after winter.
It must be so painful for the green leaves.
They grow, then they wither. It is as perpetual cycle of development that makes me celebrate being green.
To know that I can be like a green leaf really is amazing.
I get to reinvent myself like a tree, through each of the four seasons.

I have the cognitive ability to interact with strangers who know way more than me.
I get to sit and listen to their wisdom, blessing my branches with knowledge like a tree.
I am not fearful of those who have more life experience,
 for they are the ones that will prune me and ensure that I am not cut down, because they know the laws of the land, like the back of their hands.
I trust that they will protect me, like a tree planted in a Nature Reserve. 
There are federal laws that I do not even know about that can protect me as I grow, I don’t know them, but someone who cares knows.

I am green, and its okay. 
My humility will be what keeps me when I wither.
My essence embodied in teachability; will be the reason I get to grow back.

Green is a very pretty color
It is the color of grass and the color of leaves that grow on the branches of the tree.
Green is the color of seaweed that moves back in forth in the ocean
Green is the color that is calming and symbolizes growth for me

I embrace the fact that I do not know everything, it is not embarrassing to me
It excites me!
I do not know, what I do not know, until I am met with new knowledge.
It’s like playing a game of hide and seek.
I am not sure when I will find it, but I know if I keep preserving, I will not only find knowledge, by God’s grace, I will turn it into wisdom.

Try being green for just one day, it isn’t so bad.
Do not be afraid to learn new things.
There is no reason not to explore out of your realm of comfortability.
It is okay to be uncomfortable for the right reasons.
That’s how you grow.
I want to reach my full potential, I can not fear being cut down.
I have to be confident face the sun and stand tall.
My roots with stretch as I grow, knowledge will become wisdom and my leaves will bloom flowers.

The growing and pruning process, is never easy.
It can be quite uncomfortable, but being uncomfortable, is the reason being green doesn’t bother me.
Being uncomfortable, is what got me off my grandpa’s front porch.
Being uncomfortable is what made me appreciate the Southside of Atlanta when I was 13.
Being uncomfortable is what got me into college
Being uncomfortable is what made me join AmeriCorps
Being uncomfortable made me believe that I could use my Early Childhood experience and become a Community Advocate
Being uncomfortable, is what made me stare at trees and appreciate the color green.

There isn’t much to do in the country when you have a rare and fragile condition, but I spent countless of hours, looking at each leaf when I was in a wheelchair or in a cast.
I sat on my grandfather’s green bench and watched him work on cars. 
Then I would look at the leaves of a tree, I would stare until I could focus on each individual leaf on a branch or the leaves on the bushes that lined the side of the house.
I like being green.

Green is a very pretty color.
It is the color of grass and the color of leaves that grow on the branches of the tree.
Green is the color of seaweed that moves back in forth in the ocean.
Green is the color that is calming and symbolizes growth to me.
