Kim Gaskill uses snowflakes as a metaphor for how environment, relationships, and influences shape who we become. Each snowflake forms differently based on the conditions around it, just as our character is molded by what we let influence us.
It is a beautiful day here in Bella Vista, Arkansas. I'm Kim Gaskill, and this is the Daily Spark. Yes, I'm in Arkansas. I was just in California 5 days ago, and it was beautiful and sunny. Today I'm standing here on the porch freezing a little bit and watching this beautiful snow hit the fall leaves on the ground. I love the changing seasons, but I'm pretty much done with cold, so I won't be staying here long. But it is beautiful sitting here watching the snowfall, and I'm looking at the snowflakes, and of course I'm thinking to myself that old saying, every snowflake is unique, there are no two snowflakes alike. I know you've heard that saying. But is that really true? I mean, how do we know that no two are alike? We can't look at all of them. Each snowfall is different. Each temperature, amount of vapor in the air, amount of dust in the air, which is how they're created, is different every time it snows. So the possibility of two being the same is very rare, but depending on how you define it. Are we talking about uniquely different molecularly or uniquely different visually? Because there's a lot of snowflakes that look pretty similar, but on a molecular level they're totally different. And so I'm thinking people are like that too. If you look up the term snowflake, unfortunately that has developed a different connotation and meaning about the character of a person. It has nothing to do with the beautiful white crystallized droplet that you see coming out of the sky. But uniqueness is, is a thing. It is who we are. We are all unique. You are unique. Now, you don't have to be a snowflake in the current definition of the term, but you do need to recognize that you are unique. You need to be yourself. You are like that snowflake. Each of us is different. Each of us is formed by different environmental aspects. Not necessarily the dust in the air or the vapor in the air or the temperature, but things like that form our opinions, form our character, form who we are and how we act in situations. So what are the characteristics that you're allowing to form you, to make your uniqueness? Because who we hang out with And what we do, what we let sink in, that does form our character, that does shape who we are, just like that snowflake. So pay attention today. Who are you spending time with? Where are you allowing yourself to absorb energy around you from? Is it good energy? Snowflakes. Beautiful. Unique. But cold. So I'm going inside. And I'll see you tomorrow for another Daily Spark.
