Bumble Bees and Lessons From Wasps
A busy bumble one day came across another gentle bumbler hidden in a town of wasps.
Thinking maybe he had been alone all this time, he was delighted to discover another who understood… But time would tell a different story from the warm, glowing fable Young Bumble painted upon spotting a comrade among the greedy swam.
For days and weeks (which felt oddly like years), Young Bumble was beside himself with joy each time he encountered his fellow bumble bee; he became increasingly convinced they shared a secret and were fated pals in a charming, wild world only bees could see.
At last, Young Bumble spoke to his kindred fellow, and so many quirks and interested he was overjoyed to discover they shared!
“At last,” thought he to his lonesome self, “a friend unthreatening – one who speaks in stories and soothes my mental health!” And for the very first time, the lost bumble bee felt truly seen.
It was days or weeks Young Bumble spent laughing, cooking, sharing treasures and art with his strange new gentle friend.
And, seeing his new friend so effortlessly fitting into the swarm, he watched and felt inspired. He said more hello’s and went to events and joined new groups, hoping to discover something other than the distracted crickets and cranky wasps he constantly uncovered.
“How do you get along so well?” Young Bumble finally asked.
Sheepish and defeated, Young Bumble continued to confess to his friend, “I see you fly among the swarm and seem to belong just as you are, unbothered and free. I’ve searched all these years yet still struggle to call any my true friend.”
And so the fellow bumble bee invited his young friend to parties and picnics where he might see for himself how much more he had in common with the throng of wasps than he believed thus far…
Perhaps his new friend thought Young Bumble might even meet more of their softer kind and feel, at last, that he was at home and among friends in this strange swarm.
Young Bumble went to all of the parties and teas his new friend suggested, and though he tried to make small talk and be his friendly self, the wasps kept their arms crossed and refused to even look in his direction.
“What’s wrong with me,” asked Young Bumble in dismay.
“They want me to themselves,” was all his friend could say.
So Young Bumble kept arriving, always trying to smile and show his heart was unguarded and that it was them – not just their wonderful friend – he truly wanted to know.
But the wasps became cruel, finding more blatant ways to show Young Bumble a side of them shockingly sharp and cool.
As his search for friendship met only ice and rain, his ambition began to fade.
Insecurity built up and he pushed loved ones’ letters to the side, not wanting to explain that just one friend was all he’d made.
He treasured his friend though and delighted in their talks, even if he couldn’t fit in with his kindred bumble’s besties as summer parties came and went. This friendship was treasured and precious, his favorite thing to get out of bed for and the part of each week he counted down to while he worked and passed the hours.
Until one day, packed for a lakeside picnic planned weeks ahead with his dearest fellow bumble friend, his heart was shattered by the friendship’s abrupt end.
“You care more for me than I do you,” his fellow bumble had said. “I can’t continue this friendship, but I’ll see you around.”
And away he went.
Young Bumble wailed, weeping and drowning in grief and shame for hundreds of hours that each passed like a week.
It took quite a long time – and he pushed away new friendships for years as comfort beside new strangers brought back the memory of his rose-colored glasses shattering in the sand – but finally Young Bumble’s wound healed…
When his heart healed, Young Bumble realized a real friend would never toss his companion aside…
Especially not to appease a jealous swarm of wasps…
And that, when something is off, a friend who is true will care enough to be willing to talk. (That particular lesson, he learned the hard way, by pushing another gentle bumble friend away in the memory of that first pain.)
And with that, he found peace in knowing that what he’d lost hadn’t been something to lose, not really, and that for the cold, bitter truth, he was happier and better off.
Now, at last, wiser and kinder and a little less naive, Young Bumble can be found out among the swarm of wasps and bumble bees.
He’s making new friends – and his courage no longer wavers in the faces of familiar strangers he once mistook for friendly wasps or kindred bumble spirits.
“You Don’t Need Friends Who Keep Cruel Company.”
A note from the author:
Now, obviously this little tale is based on a true story… so I would like to point out that I do not truly believe my little town is comprised of wasps. Grief can make people seem awful and much worse than they really are — and when you’re reeling in pain, that’s hard to see past.
And for anyone going through the pain of a treasured friendship now lost, I want you to know that the feelings are valid, but it doesn’t make them fact. Take it easy on your healing heart, and be as kind as you can when you can’t help but look back.
Love,
Vera
