“Bee the Change” 

The title of my bottle is “Bee the Change.” I chose this title because it comes from one of my favorite quotes. According to Gandhi, we need to “be the change you wish to see in the world.” We live in a flawed world, and it is easy to criticize other people for their wrongdoings and blame each other for not trying to better our environment. However, instead of blaming others for the faults of society, we must lead by example and show the world what we want to see. Change starts from within, and once we start showing others how to positively change the world, it will start a chain reaction. The title goes well with our theme: social pollination. This concept is all about changing our world for the better by spreading positive messages and knowledge to everyone that we meet. There is constant exchange of information, and this information needs to be spread, the same as bees exchanging pollen with each flower it lands on. I decided to incorporate bees into my bottle, as into my title, because bees are natural pollinators. They keep our plants alive and we depend on them to do their job. Some people depend on social pollinators to change society, but in reality, everybody has the potential to be a social pollinator. They only need to take on the responsibility to “bee” the change themselves.

For the bottle itself, I chose a beautiful day for the backdrop, bright and full of potential. The landscape is full of native prairie grasses and plants because these native plants represent strength, resilience, and stability that we can all learn from. Their intricate root systems extend far beneath the ground, and this allows them to survive in periods of drought and stay in place during bad weather. Also, they are able to keep the soil together in floods to keep it from washing away. Native plants not only help themselves, but their attributes help their environment, which goes with my message. I featured three flowers in my scene: coneflower, yarrow, and black-eyed Susans. I chose these flowers because not only are they pollinator plants, but they are also native plants. Pollinator plants do what their name implies: they attract and support the pollinators and insects in the environment. This is also a parallel to social pollination: these plants are native to Chicagoland, which means that we can have social pollinators and difference-makers in our community. Finally, I chose bees to represent social pollinators. These bees were made with positive social action words: love, respect, empower, and forgive. These actions need to take place in society in order to make a positive change. The bees are going from flower to flower, spreading their positive messages and picking up others that came before them. Social pollination is not just about spreading knowledge; it is also about learning from others and incorporating new information into an already strong set of morals and values.

I am a social pollinator because my goal everyday is to make a positive change in someone’s life, whether it be big or small. A change that I want to see in the world is that we care for our fellow human beings like we would care for our family. When we start treating everyone with the dignity and respect they deserve, then problems may be solved more efficiently and with others’ best interest in mind. I am hopeful that my generation will be the ones pushing for a better future, and I am excited for what is to come. How will you “bee” the change today?