The bleeding heart is a perennial plant, meaning they come back year after year. They grow in the shade or part shade and are usually paired off with hostas or other shade loving plants.
The flowers look like hearts and the little “white” at the end looks like a drop of blood — thus the name bleeding heart.
Perhaps instead of humans being called “living beings” or “man” we should have been called bleeding hearts. We certainly have a lot in common with the plant. All around us there are plenty of people whose hearts have drops of blood flowing in them because of the inhumanity of other people or of life in general. It’s a vicious circle. Hurt people hurt other hurt people. Intentionally or unintentionally. All bleeding inside — this thing we call humanity sometimes doesn’t appear to be so human.
Or perhaps that’s really what being human is all about.
The word “inhumane” is a variant of the word “inhuman” which means lacking compassion, sympathy, or being cruel. Â So couldn’t we then assume that the word human would be the opposite, ie, having compassion, sympathy and not being cruel?
The bleeding heart comes back every year just as humans bounce back from emotional or physical distress. But when humans bounce back they don’t come back the same. One has to hope they come back with a better vision of life but that’s not always true. Sometimes they come back too hurt, bitter or discouraged to feel much of anything.
It’s like people stay in the “shade” of life instead of coming out to enjoy the full sun.
Life — it’s just what it is.
Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Genesis 2:7