Children's Business Review

Your Appearance Influences Others More Than You May Know

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Had he not been so tightly wedged in amongst its branches, Aris would most certainly have tumbled to the ground as a result of a young bear’s vigorously shaking a tree that had seemed, up until that point, an ideal resting place. While this type of disturbance might be alarming for you or I, Aris at once recognized his young friend Clara and was in fact quite happy to have had his nap interrupted. 

“How can I help you today?” Aris asked, knowing that Clara more often than not came to call when she had a question that nobody else but him could answer. 

“Does it matter what I look like?” Clara asked directly. “Mama is always telling me to have a bath, brush the leaves out of my furand clean up the honey around my mouth. I don’t care how I look, why should anyone else?”

Not the type to be caught off guard by the varying questions posed to him by the forest’s residents, Aris responded to Clara with his own question. “Let me start by asking you something,” Aris began. “Who delivers the post to your den?” 

“You know who!” exclaimed Clara. “The racoon comes to us every morning with the mail, as he does for you I imagine.” 

“And how do you know that the racoon who’s there is delivering your post and hasn’t come to join you for breakfast?” Aris inquired. “After all, raccoons do look remarkably similar.” 

“He has a special hat and a bag,” replied Clara. 

“So you can see that the raccoon’s appearance tells us something about who he is,” Aris countered. 

“Yes, but that’s a very specific example!” Clara, who was somewhat frustrated and not hiding it well, responded. “I still don’t understand why a person’s appearance could possibly matter.” 

“All right Clara, if you’ll kindly sit there and humour me, I’ll tell you a story that might help you understand a little bit more about why your appearance might, at least sometimes, matter to others.” 

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Of all the beautiful creatures in the world, most of us have a special fondness for butterflies. This fondness is perhaps due to their delicate features, graceful movements and magnificent colour combinations although there are certainly other reasons making it nearly impossible to not stop and watch a butterfly fluttering by on a summer’s day. 

There are many stunning types of butterflies in the world and if you’ve been fortunate enough to see one, you might be tempted to say that the monarch butterfly is the world’s most beautiful type of butterfly. 

Criss-crossed with black stripes, the monarch butterfly’s wings of yellow, orange and gold give off the impression of a stained glass window flying by. Adding extra beauty to these wings are their black borders, speckled throughout with snow-white spots. It’s really no wonder why monarch butterflies have gained such favour and, from an esthetic point of view, are held in such high regards.

While every monarch is beautiful, there once was a butterfly named Ariel who was, beyond a doubt, even more remarkable than all the others. And for this very reason, as she flew about each day, Ariel would attract the attention of all the forest dwellers.  

When Ariel fluttered past their tree houses, the owls would comment to each other that Ariel seemed to glow in the sunshine, “She really is quite wonderful!” they could be heard remarking emphatically. 

“Is it just me, or do her wings look just a little bit bigger and a little more brilliant than all the other butterflies?” asked a mother bear to her cub when she caught a glimpse of Ariel. And, while this might seem far-fetched but is most certainly true, when Ariel drew near, the forest’s flowers would turn away from the sun and face in her direction, as if to get a glimpse of her beauty. 

The beautiful are often aware of the effect that they have on others around them, and Ariel was no exception to this rule. Now to her credit, Ariel wasn’t by any means vain, selfish or haughty, as the beautiful often are. In fact, Ariel was a very kind butterfly. 

Ariel’s beauty wasn’t without consequence as, for her entire life, Ariel found that she had never needed to do anything for herself because her beauty caused those around to occupy themselves with her wellbeing. And so while other butterflies would spend their days collecting food and then finding and preparing ideal places where they would rest at night, Ariel spent her mornings soaring high above the trees and, more often than not, spent her afternoons napping on one of the leaves found on their branches.  Despite her carefree days, every night when she found her way back to other butterflies, Ariel would find that they had set aside a cozy resting place for her and that a lovely supper awaited. 

On one particularly hot summer’s afternoon, Ariel glided to a large leaf at the top of a tall oak tree and drifted off to sleep. When she awoke, the sky was dark, clouds were forming and a fierce wind was beginning to blow. Knowing, as every butterfly would, that a storm was brewing, Ariel grew alarmed as she had a great distance to travel before getting home. I shouldn’t have slept so long. she thought. I hope I can make it back home before the storm becomes violent. 

Unfortunately, as Ariel was on her way home, the sky grew darker and the wind blew fiercer and fiercer with every passing minute. Despite becoming completely disoriented, Ariel continued to press on, hoping that she would soon find her way back to the welcoming faces of her friends.  

After many hours of flying, it became apparent that Ariel was completely lost and, to make matters worse, the storm continued to grow in strength. In what seemed like no time at all, Ariel found herself on the verge of exhaustion and the moment eventually came when Ariel could no longer fight against the storm. Believing that all hope was lost, Ariel closed her eyes and allowed the wind to carry her away.

The following day, a warm ray of sunshine woke Ariel. As she opened her eyes and glanced around, Ariel  found herself in a meadow she’d never seen before. What luck, She thought. I managed to make it through the storm and now that the weather’s improved, I can set about finding my way home. 

To her surprise, when Ariel got to her feet and tried to fly away, she found that her wings had been damaged in the storm and she could no longer take off. Perhaps if I rest for awhile, I’ll gain the strength necessary to fly. Ariel thought hopefully. I’ll begin my journey by walking, and once I’m up to it, will fly the rest of the way home. 

It didn’t take more than two or three steps for Ariel to realize that her legs had also been injured the previous day and, while she wasn’t in much pain, Ariel could barely hobble more than a few steps before having to rest. 

At this point Ariel grew alarmed with the realization that her body had been crippled by the storm and her  fall to the earth. Anxious to learn more about what state she was in, Ariel pulled herself to a nearby puddle and examined her reflection. 

To her shock, the butterfly looking back at Ariel from the water’s surface was unrecognizable; never had she seen a butterfly with such an appearance. Her wings, once beautiful and stately, were battered and broken. What had been two of the longest and straightest antennas were now scarred and twisted. It seemed like no part of Ariel’s body was spared from the ravages of the day before. And her legs, once shapely and powerful, were now bent and disfigured. 

Without a doubt, Ariel, once the most beautiful of all monarchs, was now a collection of broken and battered parts. Aware of her newfound unpleasant appearance, and being both ashamed and saddened, Ariel crawled beneath the nearest bush and cried herself to sleep.  

Despite the fact that Ariel had concealed herself, shortly after Ariel fell asleep, a butterfly who lived near the meadow where Ariel was hidden chanced upon her and noticed immediately her bruised and disfigured body. Several hours later, when Ariel awoke, this same butterfly stood watching her, along with a dozen or so other butterflies of every shape, size and colour imaginable. 

“Do not be afraid monarch sister,” said the butterfly who had discovered Ariel. “My name is Sam and these are my friends and family.”

Ariel looked at the group nervously, anticipating that they intended to send her away.

Sam continued, “We can see that you are injured and unable to care for yourself,” Hearing this comment Ariel looked away from Sam and the others as she couldn’t help but feel ashamed by her appearance. “And, we would be happy to have you come and live with us.”

Ariel could barely believe what she was hearing, turned back towards Sam and surveyed the smiling faces looking down at her.

“And if you do indeed decide to stay,” Sam added, “We will ensure that you always have enough food to eat each day and a safe and cozy place to lay your head every night.” 

True to Sam’s word, Ariel’s new butterfly family treated her with a kindness greater than she had experienced during the days when her beauty was without rival. While some of the wounds she suffered during the storm healed, Ariel would never regain her former beauty and was unable to make her way back home. 

As the years passed, Ariel forgot about her previous life and what it was like to be beautiful. It was during this time that the kindness which as I told you before was something that existed naturally in Ariel, blossomed and grew. You may not be surprised then to learn that as the years went by, Ariel’s new family were known to say that she was one of the most beautiful butterflies they had ever known, seeing in Ariel an inner beauty that made up for any flaws found with her physical appearance. 

******

Aris was not surprised by the puzzled expression on Clara’s face as he concluded his story. They both sat quietly for several minutes until Clara broke the silence. 

“It seems like Ariel’s appearance had an effect on those around her, both when she was beautiful and again after her injuries.” 

Aris smiled as Clara tried to make sense of his story. She continued. “And in both cases, the way the butterflies treated Ariel was based to a significant extent on nothing more than how she looked.”

Aris remained silent and watched as Clara frowned mulled over things. After several minutes, Clara presented her conclusion to Ari.  

“So maybe it sometimes does matter what I look like, not because it changes who I am, but because it can influence the way people choose to interact with me.”  

“You are a very clever little bear!” Aris exclaimed as Clara beamed with pride. With the day’s lesson concluded, the two friends turned to watch the sunset, perfectly content to be in each others company.