This Garden of Humanity

Note to self, and to anyone who finds themselves reading these words.

This is a blog.

And as a blog, I share a wide variety of ideas, perspectives and feelings that come to me in very random moments.  Right now I write from 37,000 ft between San Diego and Houston from what I think may be the smallest airline seat ever conceived. I have to give Continental Airlines a big kudos for creativity in figuring out how to shave every possible millimeter of space out of this seat while still being able to call it a seat (although some might argue the definition).

But back to the blog.

What is contained in these blogs are not polished, tightly edited or fully fleshed out thoughts. More often than not, they represent a free flow of consciousness that's bubbling about in my head and needs some form of release.

I share what I write with the simple intention that my words may lend some insight, inspiration, perspective or food for thought to propel and further your own journey of exploration and discovery; so that your own truths may reveal themselves to you.

My words are not intended to be definitive or brilliant or even a declared truth. I may read my own words a week from now and either completely disagree or find that they were far inadequate in expressing what I’m trying to share. They are meant to ponder and to invoke thoughts and feelings. Contradictions and paradoxes may abound.  They certainly do in the world around me, why not in my own head?

So, don’t believe a word I say unless it works for you or resonates with you or is in any way applicable to making your own life easier, more joyful, more abundant, more clear or more groovy in any way. These are just my beliefs held in the brief moment that I share them and our beliefs are nothing but strong opinions, at best.

With that said, it occurs to me that…..

A flower when pulled from the soil quickly dies. Placed in water, it also dies, just more slowly and gracefully.

But denied its source of nutrients and water it soon withers.

Even grown in soil depleted of nutrients, minerals and other riches, it lives a stunted life and does not grow at its full potential. It must stay in contact with the rich and vital energy sources which keep it alive and flourishing.

All life must stay in close connection with the energy sources that feed and nourish it physically, emotionally and spiritually.

For us humans that includes the life force inherent in our connection with fellow humans. We may not have physical roots, but our souls are intertwined with those of other conscious beings.

If our only sustenance is what we chew and swallow, and we are denied our connection with our communities, we wither and do not grow to our full potential.

Our bodies are fed with food and water. Our hearts are fed by other hearts. Our spirits are fed by opening our connection to the universal life force that exists within everything. The same life force that grows the flower also energizes us human beings.

This flower may continue to grow in poor conditions but it does not bear full and ripe and luscious fruit. It does not bloom as bright, as large or as fragrant.

Neither do we when we constrict our opportunities for deep and heartfelt connection with others.

Your community is the soil into which you sink your roots looking for sustenance, nourishment, guidance and inspiration. The free flow of ideas and emotions are the nutrients that feed the community into which you are rooted.

Your practices of meditation, Qigong, breath work, prayer, play, exercise, laughter, etc... are like the water that carry the richness of what is held within the community throughout your being.

As with any soil, communities can get depleted. They can lose their inspiration, their faith, their common hope, their collective dreams. These must be continuously fed and replenished. 

This year's Garden

Each of us can be a responsible gardner and replenish the soil from which we draw our own energy and sustenance. We can contribute our fruits back into the community by sharing our passions, our gifts, our work, our love, our authentic selves.

Above us there is the wide open sky and the abundant sun that is available to all regardless of the community in which you grow. Over there is another garden and it thrives in a different type of soil made up of different nutrients and ideas and philosophies and faiths.

But we all share the same abundance and inspiration of sky and sun and moon and stars. No one garden owns the sun and the sky. No one community owns faith.

Perhaps I carry the analogy too far. But the truth remains that when we remove ourselves from our connection to the life force that sustains us, we wither, we grow weak, we do not yield abundance and we do not flourish.

The community is your soil.

A free and courageous flow of ideas and passions are some of the nutrients that keep the community rich.

Your conscious breath, your faith and your practices of self care are the water that carries the wisdom of the community throughout your entire being to every cell.

Your wide spread arms and your clear and open heart are your connection to the shared sun and sky that energizes and inspires us all.

Be a good gardener today so that we may all share the abundance inherent in this garden paradise in which we live.