Weeds Are a Matter of Perspective

Messengers from the Wilderness

Weeds

 

A plant is a weed only within a certain context; one person’s weed is another person’s wildflower.

Simply expressed, a weed is any plant that grows where it isn’t wanted. Weeds are defined by their tendency to flourish at the expense of a gardener’s overall vision, and we tend to battle their presence in our yards. It is interesting to consider, though, that a plant is a weed only within a certain context, which is to say that one person’s weed is another person’s wildflower. Most of us have pulled at least one dandelion up by its roots and disposed of it in the interest of preserving the look of a perfect green lawn, yet the dandelion is good medicine, packed with healing properties and vitamin-rich leaves that are a delicious, spicy surprise in a summer salad.

 

In the wild, there is no such thing as a weed because the overall vision is in the hands of Mother Nature, who accommodates and incorporates all forms of life. In nature, balance is achieved over the long term, without the aid, or interference, of a human supervisor. While one plant may prevail over others for a certain period of time, eventually it will reach an apex and then it will naturally decline, allowing for other forms to be born and survive. This self-regulating realm was the first garden of our ancestors, who learned the art of agriculture from studying the forests and fields of the as yet uncultivated earth. In a sense, weeds are harbingers of this wildness, pushing their way into our well-ordered plots, undermining more delicate flora, and flourishing in spite of us.

 

The next time you see a weed, you might want to look deeply into its roots, discover its name, its habits, and its possible uses. Instead of seeing an unwanted intruder, you might see a healer offering its leaves for a medicinal tea or its flowers for a colorful salad. At the very least, if you look long enough, you will see a messenger from the wilderness of Mother Earth, reminding you that, even in the most carefully controlled garden, she cannot be completely ruled out.

Love Cannot Be Contained

Love cannot be contained within "speaking" or "listening"
Love is a Sea whose depths cannot be fathomed.
Would you dare try and count the drops of the sea?
Before the Sea of Love, the seven seas are nothing.
- Jalal-ud-Din Rumi

I like this quote, because it exemplifies how I feel about the people and pets I deeply love.  There is no ocean wide enough, no river deep enough to keep me from loving you.  I think there's a song with such lyrics.

For true love has no bounds and no boundaries.  Take pets, for example.  They love us completely and unconditionally.  And, we feel their immense warmth and comfort.  When I'm down or feeling lonely, my kits and pup always infuse my spirits with gentle joy.  No matter when or where, how or why. 

Always by my side.  A forever balm for my soul.

Laugh at yourself and at life. Not in the spirit of derision or whining self-pity, but as a remedy, a miracle drug, that will ease your pain, cure your depression, and help you to put in perspective that seemingly terrible defeat... Never take yourself too seriously.

Og Mandino, 1923-1996

American Author and Inspirational Speaker

Smilebox Musical Medley

Another ecard by Smilebox

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Today is St. Patrick's Day. It was on this day in the fifth century — probably in the year 460 — that Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, died. He was born in Britain to wealthy parents, but not much more is known about his childhood until he was 16, when he was kidnapped and sold into slavery in Ireland. He was a slave for six years, herding sheep, often alone. He wrote in his memoir Confessio: "I used to stay out in the forests and on the mountain and I would wake up before daylight to pray in the snow, in icy coldness, in rain, and I used to feel neither ill nor any slothfulness, because, as I now see, the Spirit was burning in me at that time." He said that he heard the voice of God telling him to escape from Ireland, and then to come back as a missionary. He made it back to Britain, was trained as a priest, and then returned to Ireland. He wrote that he would have loved to go home to his family and his country, but that it was his duty to remain in Ireland, converting people to Christianity and baptizing them. There were few Christians in Ireland at the time, so Patrick tried to integrate traditional beliefs with the new religion, and legend has it that he introduced the Celtic cross as a way to combine the Christian cross with a symbol of the sun. Another legend says that he used the three leaves of the clover to explain the Trinity, which is why shamrocks are a symbol of St. Patrick's Day. And March 17, Patrick's Feast Day, has been celebrated as a religious holiday ever since
But the green clothing and all-out festivities of St. Patrick's Day are largely a product of the United States. The first St. Patrick's Day parade was held in New York City in 1762 by Irish immigrants. These days, about 3 million people line up to watch the parade in New York, and there are similar huge celebrations in Boston, Philadelphia, and Chicago, where they dye the river green.

Thought for The Day

“Don't underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can't hear, and not bothering.”

Winnie the Pooh

March 16, 2010  Daily OM

The Body is Natural

Physical Intuitiveness

We are all born with natural intuitive abilities, but as we grow it often leaves us through conditioning from adults.

So much of the human experience is removed from nature that we tend to forget that we are products of the natural world. At the moment of birth, we are perfectly attuned to nature. Our feelings are an authentic response to the stimulus we encounter. We interact with our environment viscerally, desiring only what is necessary for our survival. And, if we are lucky, we take in nourishment in the form of pure mother’s milk. As months and years pass, however, we discover the sights, sounds, and scents of the synthetic world. Though these often momentarily dazzle us, the dim memory of our naturalness remains. When we embrace the notion that human beings are inherently natural, bringing it to the forefront of our day-to-day experiences, we achieve a new level of wellness that boasts nature at its very core.

We innately understand that our bodies are not composed of plastics or man-made chemicals and that there is no legitimate reason to consume or expose ourselves bodily to such substances. This knowledge is reinforced each time we find ourselves energized by sweet, fresh air and warm sunlight or awed by the majesty of Mother Nature’s beauty. We feel the strength of our connection to nature when fresh food that is close to the earth sustains us more effectively than artificial supplements and when the pleasures of exercise outweigh the pains of exertion. The human body has been blessed with the same physical intuitiveness that all nonhuman living beings employ instinctively. But because our lives are no longer bound up in nature’s rhythms, we must actively seek to reconnect with this formerly innate skill. The process of rediscovering our place in the natural world can be exciting and inspiring, since nothing more is required of us than to delight in nature’s wonders, to derive! nourishment from natural foods, and to drink deeply of all the wisdom that plants and animals have to share.

Your own naturalness will reveal itself to you when you look beyond your beliefs, your lifestyle choices, and the attitudes you hold. When these constructs are stripped away, you will see a body and mind that never gave up its relationship to the essence of the natural world from which consciousness sprang.

Chinese Dinner With Friends

Last night three friends and I went to a Chinese restaunrant for dinner.  Sounds simple enough, right? Wrong.
First, upon leaving the house, I grabbed a 20 dollar bill from a drawer, dashed out to the attached garage and pulled away in my car. Simple, right? Wrong. For I no longer had the 20 bucks in my hand or anywhere else in my car, jacket pockets or jeans. Nada. Zero. Zilch.

I raced over to the restaurant, all flustered and worried about what became of my 20 dollars, from the kitchen to 20 feet away, in my garage and car. I flopped down in the booth, heart racing, monkey mind chattering, wondering, ruminating, not really there.  Everyone ordered, and my food arrived lukewarm. Normally, if I'm alone or with one other person, I'll speak up and ask for it reheated. But, with three friends, and no one else bothered or complaining about the temp. of their dish, I thought it better to keep quiet.


So I ate feeling glum and not enjoying my shrimp and scallops in garlic sauce very much at all. (It was, however, delicious reheated for dinner tonight, thank goodness.) Then the couple showed us their recent vacation photos----all 100 of them--across the table, asking me to hold them all and not spill, spit or spray gooey sauce or any other liquid-nasty on the prints---so I practially held my breath as I gazed at red-rocks-after-red-rocks of Bryce Canon from a distance. BOOOORRRRRRING! ! !

Doesn't matter that I'm a professional photographer--anyone would've been just as glazed
over by these repetitively dull photos of red rocks and blurred mountains.  YAWN!

Get the picture? It would've been a difficult evening for anyone let alone an HSP (Highly Sensitive Person)!  Plus, having to keep up a steady banter as I choked down lukewarm food positively gave me indigestion. My fortune cookie said I'd have an interesting weekend coming up.  We'll see. In the meantime, I drove home, clicked open the garage door, voila! There was my 20 dollar bill in the middle of the garage floor. At least one thing turned out right!

Spring Ahead - Fall Flat

I usually only write one blog per 24 hours, but today merits two entries.  Why?  Because last night was the start of daylight savings time and, as usual, I missed the mark.  So, today I wrote a little ditty about it-- how I felt after forgetting to turn ahead my clock and missing the first hour of my favorite show, Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood, (even after writing it down on my calendar)!

Spring has sprung----or gone haywire!

This morning I awoke at 7:40 and thought, oh good,
I have an hour before my show comes on, so I'll read.
And, I did.

Then, at 8:55, I slowly rolled over and zapped the TV
on with my hand-dandy remote. No hurry. No worry.

WRONG!

For they were just finishing up a fascinating story about
a lady who'd kept in touch with Jackie Kennedy and was
like part of the family through her letters---something I
would've been keenly interested in---but only managed to
catch about 2 minutes of. . . .why????

Because I forgot to "Spring ahead!" last night at midnight.
Oh, I had it on my calendar, all right. Written in the square
that said the "14th of March" What was I thinking???
Apparently, NOTHING!

So I missed a full hour of my treasured show and especially
this last segment on the Kennedys which I missed all together!
Wonder if I can find a transcript of it or even a resource to
see it online? I'm so disgusted!

That's about how I often view and integrate in the world, too.
Good intentions---falling flat.  Over and over, again.

Sheesh. . . . Happy Spring . . . 

Favorite Quotes

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."

 ~Dr. Seuss

1."Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up." ~Thomas Edison

2."Hitch your wagon to a star." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

3."If you knew how much work went into it, you wouldn't call it genius." ~Michelangelo

4."I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much." ~Mother Teresa

5."If we did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves." ~Thomas Edison

6."All our dreams can come true - if we have the courage to pursue them." ~Walt Disney

7."Success is never final. Failure is never fatal. It is courage that counts." ~Winston Churchill

8."If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them." ~Henry David Thoreau

9.The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. ~Eleanor Roosevelt

10."Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it." ~Goethe

11."What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." ~Oliver Wendell Holmes

12."Courage is doing what you're afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you're scared." ~Eddie Rickenbacker

13."Quit now, you'll never make it. If you disregard this advice, you'll be halfway there." ~David Zucker

14."There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." ~Albert Einstein