Australia appears to have a curious relationship with its tall poppies. Let me explain.
A tall poppy is a person who excels at something and thus pokes their head out of the mass of other people, like a poppy that is taller than most other flowers on the field. The interesting thing about tall poppies is that they tend to get chopped off and made smaller to fit in with the rest of the poppies. This phenomenon is otherwise known as "the tall poppy syndrome", and according to many sources - some more reputable than others - the syndrome is not only rife and well, but is considered our Aussie speciality. For anyone willing to contest this, just pop the term into Google Search, see what comes up, and decide for yourselves.
Apparently, this culture was borne out of the sense that everyone is created equal and everyone has the chance to have a fair go at things. Having a fair go, makes sense to me, and it is quintessentially Australian. However, are all of us really able to have a fair go? And, are we even meant to be equal? People are entitled to equal rights, opportunities, pay, and respect, yes. But are we not all inherently different, and unique in our own way? Are we perhaps confusing equality with equity? And if someone lives out their dreams, realises their talents and excels at whatever they put their heart and mind to, and this particular poppy shoots up above others, then 'Cheers!' to the tall poppy. No?
Let’s take the example of a health care professional or a carer, here. It may be much easier to be compassionate and forgiving towards persons who we may perceive as being in a more difficult, or ‘smaller’ position than we are. However, it may not be so easy to be patient and compassionate towards our successful colleague, beautiful neighbour, our demanding but brilliant boss, or someone else we see as being tall. Interestingly, experience shows me that it may even be most difficult to be compassionate towards ourselves. I believe that the reason we may become involved in topping tall poppies, is because we primarily do not have compassion, and acceptance for self, and hence cannot extend it towards others.
Here's why I believe the tall poppy syndrome is not useful to any of us; tall, medium, short poppies, or different flowers entirely. Holding someone back and stunting their growth is hardly a good thing, let alone chopping heads off!! In fact, this sort of behaviour is only testament to our own insecurities, our envy, and ultimately our sense of not being good (or tall) enough. By levelling others, we seemingly feel better about ourselves, but it is usually a short lived and hollow ‘success’. What really happens, is we end up holding everyone down, including ourselves. And, on a grander scale it leads to a celebration of sameness and mediocrity, when we are unique and meant to live a full life. We are here to discover our light, let it shine and stand tall. We all have the potential to flourish and grow taller than we are, if we are willing to face our fears and address our self-limiting beliefs. And we can draw inspiration by the tall poppies around us! If someone else can conquer their fears and live out their full potential, then gasp - maybe, just maybe we can, too!? Yes, there's hope and something to aspire to!! Tall poppies might even be able and willing to support us in doing the same, and help us realise our talents and unique strengths. So, would it not be wonderful if our field of flowers could collectively all grow a bit taller than we were before?
On a systemic level, we cannot become better as a society, nor be well equipped to face the challenges we have created for ourselves, if we all slap each other on the back for remaining in fear and darkness, remaining small, and joining ranks to pull those down who are trying to create a better way of being for themselves, and be a positive force in the world. Cultivating sameness and smallness is not helpful. We all have it in us to grow and be our best selves, and pursuing that is something to be proud of. So, I encourage you to celebrate yourself and your opportunities to grow. Celebrate the tall poppies around us, and let them inspire us to stretch our own boundaries, and come to stand a bit taller and turn our heads to the light, too!
Let's water the tall poppies.