I was giving some thought today to mindfulness and how it relates to nature.
Spring is here on the East Coast and it made me think how, at one time, people believed they had to perform certain rituals to bring back the warmer weather. Now, however, I would like to think we have realized just how powerful nature is and that it will continue on in spite of us.
I started to think about how, as human beings, we like to believe we control so much. We plan and make preparations. We look to the future and we learn from the past. I just wonder, how much time do we spend in the present? Lately I too have been trying to plan and predict things. Trying to find out before it’s time what the results of my efforts will be. I long to find the answer to tomorrow’s questions today and want to know right now if my work has paid off.
And like nature, the rest of the universe smiles, nods and tells me, “all in it’s right time.”
My tomato seeds, while they will someday hold large, beautiful beefstake tomatoes, today are not even an inch tall. These tiny seeds couldn’t old up each other let alone be asked to hold a giant tomato. And yet, we ask this of our dream seeds all the time.
We seem to fit our lives into these timelines dictated to us by the rest of the world. Learning should take place in this order, in this time and at this speed. Relationships should proceed in this order, look like this and last this long. We are told to act our age or that we need to act now because we aren’t, “getting any younger.”
Why?
Why do things have to follow a certain road because somewhere, someone did a study saying this is what happens if you wait too long/don’t wait long enough/don’t act now. Who says college starts at 18 or that babies should be born by 29? We spend some much effort focusing on these self-imposed deadlines that we never get to watch this tiny seed grow. Little, by little each day. We miss them perk up as the sun lands it first ray of light in the early morning. We ignore the growth that happens with each drink of water.
Our dreams are no different. Small, fragile, needing lots of love and tending yes, but also needing time and lots of room to grow.
Here is to tending the garden without focusing on the yield or results. Rather, just to enjoy the sunshine.
Until next time…
Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante