Cosmic Gardener – Cultivating a Life

Hurricanes. Flooding. Wildfires. Nature’s devastation.
Political discord. Racial unrest. Mass killings. Human destruction.
What to do? How to help?
Pray for loved ones? Pray for all?

Modern mystic and author Jan Phillips says that in this time of trauma overload rather than defaulting to a traditional mode of prayer (“Dear God, please help so and so…”) that she thinks “they are me, I am them” and through her actions “loves a little more out loud.” She believes that small acts of everyday kindness such as smiling more in the grocery store “lifts us all up, like the rising tide lifts all boats.” One-ing she calls it.

I think she may be on to something cosmic here, a sense of We-consciousness. We may be limited in our capacity to forestall nature’s wrath but we do have the power within us to reweave the tapestry of our human family, one heart, one hug, one buried resentment and one act of forgiveness at a time.

One-ing.

“The problem with the world is that we draw the circle of our family too small.”
~Mother Teresa

I have come to believe that magic happens when we have a clear picture of who we are and get in touch with what is important to us in the now. At that intersection the stars seem to align and our unseen helpers conspire to help us create (with synchronicity and often divine timing) some variation or expression of our vision. It is a process that oft repeats in a lifetime, depending on who we are and what our priorities are in the moment.

I have seen manifestation of such alchemy in the lives of those around me and on reflection recognize the pattern in my own life, organic alchemy.

Comfort without healing.
Healing without cure.
Health and Wellness are more than the absence of symptoms.

Informed by the work of her colleague Abraham Maslow, Barbara Marx Hubbard suggests that “vocational arousal” occurs when you are doing chosen work and take self-rewarding action that is both “intrinsically valuable to your own growth and simultaneously of service to others.”

Said another way, I believe that such arousal ensues when enlightened self-interest intersects with a contribution to the greater good. Further broadening the concept, one could say that finding such bliss is not contingent on vocational application at all.

However we spend our time when we are rightly aligned mentally, emotionally and spiritually (Maslow dubbed such a state “self-actualization”) I believe that we are instinctively motivated do our part to make the world a better place.

 “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it.
Because what the world needs is people who have come  alive”.
~ Howard Thurman

Indulge your curiosity.
Honor your skeptic.

Because someone has gone out of your life does not mean that either of you has done anything wrong. It just means that chapter of your life is over.

Lauding the efforts of a colleague of mine to end ageism, I passed along the link to her recent TED Talk. One of its recipients took umbrage, interpreting her remarks as  divisive. On the contrary.

We all age. Ageism is a judgement, applied to both young people and those older, which assumes that because of chronology one is not good enough, less than, lacking, or in some way flawed.

It is the same judgement embodied by all isms whether the defining characteristic is race, gender, ability, sexual orientation, religion, nationality or culture. The other is always perceived as not good enough, less than, lacking, or in some way flawed.

Whenever we judge someone for their unique human characteristics I believe that we also demean their inherent divinity.

“Bloom where you are planted.” An old adage of great depth.
How does your garden grow?
Is your Being budding?

Driving on the freeway one day I saw a late model Mercedes bearing license plates that read “Some Day.” From that one snapshot my mind created a rich back story.

The driver of that car, in my mind’s eye, was a patient and forbearing visionary, a dreamer who looked at life as possibility. Someone perhaps with lots of experience under their belt in dealing with the reality of situations in which options might have been limited, but who persevered nonetheless.

The Mercedes was one manifestation of the conclusion of my story about that driver. My mind however thinks that was likely only one chapter.

Do you have a Some Day?
What’s your back story?

In a recent interview a well-known metaphysical author and teacher mused that “the purpose of life is to grow our soul.”

Expanding on that thought I frame the concept of soul growth as the natural outcome of our ongoing and lifelong Earth School learning experiences. Further expanding the idea we might then say that there are no mistakes only learning experiences, thus acknowledging that we learn something from every experience, sometimes kicking and screaming, often weeping. My father in the autumn of his years ventured, “It’s almost like you look forward to the hard times because you know you’re going to learn something.”

We can also learn to be sanguine with the constancy of change in our Earth School curriculum. By choosing to be present.

Modern-day sage Leo Buscaglia enthused, “The glory of the life that embraces change.”
Eckhart Tolle speaks of “The Power of Now.”
Ram Dass invites us to “Be Here Now.”

Another teacher writes, “The goal of life is to be adequate to the tasks ahead.”

I believe we grow our soul, one step at a time, however our journey unfolds and wherever it takes us.

Being eccentric, authentically, is being good at being who you are.

“Your uniqueness is your gift to life.”
~ Paul Brenner

A friend understands who you are
knows who you were
and sees who you may become.

“The most holy bond of society is friendship.”
~ Mary Wollstonecraft

Cosmic: All that is … and then some.

Philanthropy: The desire to promote the welfare of others, altruistic concern for others welfare and advancement; benevolence, generosity, humanitarianism, public-spiritedness, altruism, social conscience, charity, brotherly love, fellow feeling, magnanimity,  munificence, thoughtfulness, liberality, largesse, openhandedness, bountifulness, beneficence, unselfishness, kindness, kindheartedness, compassion.

Cosmic Philanthropist: One who takes action to make a positive difference in the world.

Some folks I know are experiencing challenging situations with family members or friends whom they would like to positively influence. Tension has arisen with their loved ones over divergent perspectives regarding either a course of action or what favorable outcomes look like.

In Earth School we all have our own lesson plans, complete with pop quizzes and finals uniquely crafted to grow our souls. We do no one a favor by trying to do their homework for them. Giving them our answers for their life’s challenges or doing their assignments for them may in fact  impede their mastery of distinct core life lessons.

Our unique coursework and practicums are the only lessons that really matter and over which, in reality, we have any control.

My entreaty for our elected officials is that they soften their hearts and strengthen their resolve to exercise common sense and respect, and that they be kind and ethical in the discharge of all their duties.

And for those of us they have pledged to serve may we be benevolent in our resistance to or support of our evolving and messy American democracy. Let us reflect one another’s innate goodness, and in so doing bridge a way forward, together.

So be it.

“The problem with the world is that we draw
the circle of our family too small.”
  ~ Mother Teresa

“He drew a circle that shut me out-
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle and took him in!
~ Edwin Markham

Balance is a dynamic element often recognized by its absence. We are like human fulcrums balancing our life’s ups and downs. It is not always easy to find center nor to maintain equilibrium.

Patience is one of the requisite courses in Earth School that most of us return to occasionally on a remedial basis due to faulty study habits.