What I have learned from the bees.

Image: "Message from the Bees: Do Your Part, No More No Less" 36"x36", created by Ms. Anna Lee for the Rourke Art Gallery and Museum for the 66th annual Midwestern Invitational

This piece of art above is about doing our part in this life, no more, no less. Many of us spend so much of our lives trying to be everything, wondering if we are doing enough. 

No one bee looks at the meadow of flowers and asks: “how am I going to get all of that nectar and pollen into the hive?” They know that they have a community of collaborators that are all doing their part. There is great responsibility then to just do what that bee needs to do, as her sister bees are counting on her.

Doing more than our part takes opportunity away from others who are meant to shine in certain ways. Doing less than our part prevents us from shining in the ways we are supposed to. We do this through self-sabotage, taking our talents for granted, or losing hope in what we are capable of in the collective.

And right now, it is more important than ever to get clear on what it is we have for the world. We need all of us.