World of Will
This year, I realized that I am, for sure, a petal in the pavement.
But what does “petal in the pavement” really mean?
If you know Ariana Grande, you probably know “petals”, one of the songs from her album. And somehow, this year, I found myself deeply connected to what the song represents.
When you think about a flower growing through pavement, it already feels almost impossible. Pavement is hard. It is concrete. It is not a place where flowers are supposed to grow.
And yet, somehow, the flower grows through it.
Not only does it survive, but it blooms.
It has petals.
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Then you start to wonder:
How did it survive?
How did it not die when the pavement is such a harsh place?
A place where people constantly walk over it, where it is stepped on, ignored, and exposed to everything?
That image became such a powerful representation of my life this year, and maybe of many other people’s lives too.
What the Petal Means to Me
For me, the song and the music video represent Ariana as someone who spent so much of her life trying to please the industry and her fans. She reached the highest levels of success as a singer, but even then, she was never immune to criticism.
She created music that reflected her life, her experiences, and the things she had gone through, but people were still not satisfied. They still did not fully understand her songs or what she was trying to say.
She acted. She danced. She worked hard. She changed her appearance. She tried different versions of herself.
She did so many things, sometimes even going against what her heart wanted, just to please people.
And still, people had something to say about everything she did.
In the end, she betrayed parts of herself while trying so hard to make everything okay for everyone else.
And I think that is one of the strongest messages of the song.
Success does not make you immune to criticism.
Being beautiful does not make you immune to rejection.
Being talented, hardworking, or being seen as a “good person” does not guarantee that everyone will appreciate you.
Being the best does not automatically mean people will praise you. Being the most beautiful does not mean people will choose you.
Because at the end of the day, no one else can give you the peace and happiness that you are supposed to find within yourself.
If you keep looking for that validation from other people, you will eventually exhaust yourself trying to adjust.
Maybe you can please many people, but deep inside, you know that you did not please yourself.
And then you realize that all the effort was pointless.
Growing Through the Pavement
Like a flower growing through pavement, you can go through so much and still be there. You can still grow. You can still bloom.
But I also think the music video adds another layer to that meaning.
As Ariana’s petals fall, perhaps they represent how constantly giving yourself to other people’s opinions can slowly make you wither.
And at some point, you realize that you have to grow again.
You have to protect whatever petals you have left.
I think that is such a powerful representation not only of Ariana, but of society in general.
We often romanticize struggle.
We think that because we survived something difficult, we have to keep carrying that difficulty as proof that we are strong.
But maybe we don’t.
We don’t always have to be struggling just to prove that we are successful.
The difficulties we went through do not have to validate us forever. We already survived them. We already learned from them. We already became better people because of them.
We are allowed to move forward.
My Petal
So, what does the petal mean in the world of Wilfred?
This year brought so many challenges.
There was the salary cut. There is the conflict here in the Middle East. There is so much uncertainty. And emotionally, this year has also tested me in ways I did not expect.
There were moments when I did not know what was going to happen next.
But somehow, like a flower growing through pavement, I am still here.
Still alive.
Still trying.
Still growing.
Still hoping that I can bloom.
Maybe I have already moved on from the idea of constantly meeting other people’s expectations. My struggle may be different from Ariana’s, but I deeply relate to the message of the song: as long as I have myself and the things that make me who I am, I will never completely disappear.
Our value does not disappear just because someone else fails to see it.
Our worth cannot be taken away by someone else’s opinion.
And I think that is something I learned this year.
Happiness really comes from being able to look at yourself and choose to do things for yourself and for the people you love, instead of constantly doing things just to be told that you are a good person.
Maybe the real goal in life is to discover your own value.
Because that is where everything begins.
It begins with accepting yourself, both the good and the parts that you are still trying to understand.
And once you accept yourself, you also learn that you do not have to accept everything from everyone, especially when something is simply not what you want.
You should feel good about yourself before you depend on someone else to tell you that you are beautiful.
You should know your worth before someone else decides whether you are worthy or not.
And honestly, I don’t think I care anymore.
“My petal may not look like Ariana’s, but I can totally relate to what she means through the song.”
Because I have finally seen a kind of peace within myself.
I know there are things inside me that other people cannot take away.
Things that remain even when circumstances change.
Things that remain even when people leave.
Things that remain even when someone decides that I am not enough.
Maybe that is what makes Ariana’s petal beautiful.
And maybe that is what makes mine beautiful too.
Not because it never experienced the pavement.
But because it grew through it anyway.
A Petal in the Pavement
On surviving, growing, and learning to choose yourself. — Wilfred
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