Reclaiming the Beauty of Dandelions

It’s funny how the universe sends little reminders. A photo of dandelions popped up today, just as my mom and I have been having an ongoing conversation about them. She’s feeling overwhelmed by the ones scattered across her front lawn. Because she lives on a main road, she worries about what people must think as they drive by—do they judge her? Do they assume she’s not taking care of her property?

But then she told me something beautiful. She said that when she really stops and looks at those dandelions, she remembers being a little girl. She remembers the joy of finding them in the grass, the laughter of blowing their wispy seeds into the air and making wishes. She remembers how her dad would gather the greens to add to a salad. They weren’t weeds back then—they were magical.

It’s fascinating how something once cherished can, over time, become something we resent. Dandelions are now often seen as ugly, wild, and unwanted. A sign of neglect. Somewhere along the way, the story changed. And yet—who decides what is beautiful and what is not? Who sets those standards?

Maybe, just maybe, it’s up to us.

Yoga teaches us to return to the present moment with curiosity and compassion. To look again. To question the automatic judgments we carry. What if we gave ourselves permission to see with fresh eyes? What if we chose to see beauty where others see flaws?

Perhaps the dandelions aren’t the problem. Perhaps the real work is in how we choose to see them.

Next time you pass by a lawn full of them, or notice a little patch in a crack of pavement—pause. What would it be like to see them not as weeds, but as wishes?