The other day during a Selma City Council Administrative Committee meeting, a woman asked council members not compare Selma with other cities.

“We are Selma,” she said.

There’s no doubt Selma is unique in many different ways. It is the birthplace of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. It has hosted many of the famous — Martin Luther King Jr., President Barack Obama, the Clintons — and the infamous — Jesse James.

Selma has a rich and varied history, from before the Civil War up right until the last time the clock ticked off into the past. Every moment ago is history.

So, in many ways, it is easy to agree with this woman’s plea, which really seems to say, “Do not compare us with other cities and destroy that which is unique about Selma.”

But at the end of the day upon reflection, no kind of change could ever rip apart that which is the essence of Selma, Alabama.

For like a human being, this city has soul and that will not be ripped from its being.

On the other hand, if one thinks progressively, then a comparison with other cities of its size would do Selma some good. After all, that’s how many of us learn — from the experiences of others who have attempted and succeeded and who have attempted and failed.

A very good indication of this “borrowing” from other places as successful would rest in the butterfly experiment of a couple of years ago.

A group of people wanted to do something to bring the community together here in Selma. They decided to form a countywide arts alliance. After a couple of brainstorming sessions, the arts alliance put together something from “things other cities have done.”

The result was “Taking Flight to Greater Heights” and the citywide butterfly project.

Businesses or individuals sponsored artists who painted wooden butterfly sculptures on pedestals.

The butterfly art was a success.

It eventually became a part of the Selma landscape, and influenced other cities, including Tupelo, Miss., which now has guitar sculptures over the downtown portion of the city. (For you who were born yesterday, Tupelo is the birthplace of Elvis Presley and he bought his first guitar there at the Tupelo Hardware Store right on main street).

The key here is taking something from what another city did, at least in the case of the butterflies, did not hurt the essence of Selma. Instead, the project enhanced Selma in many ways and capitalized on the city’s reputation as The Butterfly Capital of Alabama.

If butterflies can do that, think how much we could learn about other ways of improving Selma by opening up ourselves a little bit?

Leesha Faulkner is director of Digital Media for The Selma Times-Journal. You may reach her at 410-1742 or e-mail her at leesha.faulkner@selmatimesjournal.com