Dear Reader,
Every day looks and feels more like spring here in Shetland. The temperatures are creeping upward, the sun shines for a little bit longer each day, and beautiful, bright daffodils are popping up everywhere. Aren’t they amazing?! I feel as if they are reminding me of something very important, especially during this pandemic.
As the opening line of “in time of daffodils,” by e e cummings, tells us:
“in time of daffodils(who know the goal of living is to grow)”
Yes. The goal of living is to grow.
Every time I see those stunning yellow blooms, I remember.
After the growing buds peek outward for a while, they explode in color and turn their brilliant faces, expecting to receive the sun. Since this is Scotland (and the northernmost reaches of Scotland at that), they are pummeled by a stiff wind nearly every day.
They tremble wildly in the wind and yes, a small percentage don’t make it. The rest somehow hold on, and reach their fullness anyway.
They know the goal of living is to grow. Beyond just knowing, they embody the goal. They express it in their very existence, and I relate to it not as a rational knowing, but a felt awareness.
The pure, essential nature of their beauty cheers me up in these difficult times. I can’t help but see something of myself in them. For aren’t we human beings the same?
Isn’t there something deep inside us that just wants to grow, to create, to express our true nature?
I think so.
This awareness is not something you can intellectually arrive at. It must be felt, allowed and lived. It is elemental. When you get out of your own way, it just happens, as surely as the sun shines each day.
And this, dear reader, leads us to a way that we are different from daffodils. We have something that daffodils don’t have (as far as we know). For better or worse, we have the ability to self-reflect, and act from free will.
We are “self conscious”.
This ability allows us to learn, and change, and grow. Through it, we have achieved great things, including the use of electricity, travel to the moon, our ability to love and to write beautiful poetry.
At the same time, our gift of self-reflection can go wrong in so many ways, often interfering with our growth to the point of becoming self-destructive. Even so, somewhere deep inside, we too know the goal of living is to grow.
Doesn’t it make sense that it would behoove us to learn how to work with these inner abilities of ours?
Of course it does. Sometimes the going seems slow, but when we make the choice, we can and do grow a little bit more in fullness and beauty each day.
If there is anything we can learn from daffodils, perhaps it is this: no matter how difficult the times, we humans have something within us that knows how to grow. We are capable of great beauty, wisdom and depth of expression, when we learn to allow it.
What does that mean for you on your journey?
- Trust your true nature.
- Learn to think a little less, and feel a little more.
- Listen for your own inner wisdom, and follow it.
- When the time is right, share it with others.
If you are reading this, you are probably already, in your own way, doing some version of this.
I applaud you.
May you, and I, and all of us be a little more like daffodils each day. No matter what.
I honor your loving heart,
John
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