If you are so fortunate to live in or have visited a part of the world that is home to deciduos trees, then each autumn when the leaves start changing color and the mountainous roads are busy with onlookers toting cameras and multiple stops just to stare at their splendor will be familiar to you.

Did you ever wonder aloud, “Why do the leaves change color?”

Ask instead, “Why do the leaves cover up in green?”

Photosynthesis 101: the trees use clorophyll (the green stuff) to absorb the sunshine, which sunshine (energy) + water produces oxygen for you and for me. (Thanks, Amazing Planet!)

Fall is simply the time of the year when the trees take off their makeup as they prepare to go to sleep for the winter.

But wait! That means the vibrant and gorgeous and uniquely amazing colors we see dotting our deciduous landscape are the trees’ TRUE colors! The green they parade around wearing during the spring and summer is simply a cover up of their true inner beauty: an attempt to be just like everyone else.

Oxygen-giving necessities aside, what green pigments are you hiding behind? Are you willing to step away from your mask and stop comparing yourself to everyone around you?

What are your true colors?

How can you show off the splendor that is you?

DISCLAIMER: I am not a scientist. That awesome interpretation of photosynthesis is my own.