How Pink Is Your Bougainvillea?



When evaluating possible backgrounds for head shots with my photographer sister-in-law, I realized all of the fun options provided to me here “back home” in San Diego, as opposed to my “current home” in Colorado.  Bougainvillea has always been a favorite of mine – we even had a bougainvillea bush on our patio in the house where I grew up.  The color is hard to beat.  It really is its very own shade – bougainvillea pink.  (Quite frankly, if someone is unable to appreciate that phenomenal color then they are no friend of mine!)
So I ask her, “how pink is your bougainvillea?”  And with a little education from my brother, I have learned that they are the most pink when they are dry and hot and have been in the sun a good deal.  The bracts (the pink parts surrounding the flower) thrive and are arguably the most beautiful in conditions most of us would deem to be unpleasant.
Dry.  Thirsty.  Overheated.  Sun burnt.  Those certainly don’t seem like the moments when my creativity will thrive and bloom.  And in a literal sense, no, it won’t be.  But perhaps those moments of mental and emotional dry and hot will in turn produce greater blooms than the moments of comfort and ease. 
Challenges necessitate the creation of art.  Necessity is the mother of invention.  Good stories don’t develop from lackluster times and limited perspective.
Little did I realize that the question “how pink is your bougainvillea?” could also be a way of asking “how vibrant is the result of your challenges?”
So, how pink is your bougainvillea?





(Pictured is my most vibrant of beloved challenges.)
#writingjourney #bougainvillea #challenges #picturebook #sandiego #anitavp



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