Your Cultivators
Certain “others” have come into my life with a set of gardening tools. They are the gardeners of my life. Our relationships live in the fiery activity of cultivation.
They have a hoe that breaks up the stuck and hard soil of the past.
They have a spade that digs a hole in my soul big enough for the new idea, the broader perspective, the sweet understanding.
They have one of those clever little tools that can cut at the root of a prejudice, a paralyzing fear, a collapsing sadness, or other nasty soul weed so it can be yanked out of my consciousness.
They have a golden fork that pitches over and over the compost pile of my old thoughts, ancient feelings and forgotten deeds.
They have a rake for gathering up the bitter feelings, brittle lies, and mistaken deeds that would sour the soil of my soul and keep truth, beauty and goodness from warming my being with freedom and love.
They thoughtfully plant seeds, prune back the unnecessary, enrich the soil with compost , gather the flowers and enjoy the fruit.
These gardeners connect, care and converse, but most importantly, they cultivate my life.
Who I am today I wouldn’t be without the powerful cultivating presence of these gardeners in my life. I might just be barren soil, no life, no flowers, no fruit. A soul that lacked fire and failed to thrive and produce any love.
Who Do You Cultivate?
Each of us is a fiery cultivator of others. We ask questions, make observations, challenge, point out, poke fun, look hard, smile warmly, shed tears and give pushes. We make tea, open up a bottle of wine, share a hot fudge sundae, take walks, listen, listen and listen more. Before we fall asleep we think about our others with wonder and devotion regarding their future…igniting the flame of their destiny, cultivating their life’s garden.
The bud, the bloom, the fruit are the fiery fulfillment of a well-cultivated, and powerfully cultivating, relationship and they light up the world ether with flames of reverence and gratitude.
Who have been the soul gardeners in your life? And who are the soul gardens that you cultivate courageously? Make a list and then write two pages about one or two cultivating relationships…explore the connections, the caring, the conversations and the acts of cultivation. Stay with the metaphors or not.
And notice the feeling in your heart!
Dig Deeper
And if you want to deal with paradox, think of those who only cultivate, or those who only converse, or simply care, and those with whom connection has no real significance – those unfamiliar names on your FB friends list.
In my life there are a number of relationships that are no longer currently alive in time and space, but I still feel the connection, offer care that exists as loving thoughts in the world ethers, and the conversations seem to take place only in my imagination…but somehow, they still have the power to cultivate. Amazing!
In our modern social life, relationship is incredibly complex. The more we try to deconstruct relationship, the more we can create more evolved, more conscious ones.
