Seeds

Credit: Chinnu Indrakumar ~ Unsplash

“A seed neither fears light nor darkness but uses both to grow.”

~ Matshona Dhliwayo

Walking in the woods the last few years, I have found that seeds play a huge part in the constant changes throughout the seasons. Different scents and flowers bloom year-round, and some baby trees grow at the trunk of giant trees as if they birthed them. And then some seeds fall and grow from other kinds of foliage in the stillness of winter. I enjoy planting different flavors of mint next to trees and bushes because they grow quickly and abundantly. And when the wind blows, the fragrance is divine.

This Spring, I have focused on what kind of seeds we carry to help expand and grow our world and ourselves. Nature has an inward time clock of when to seed, plant, water, and bring out its exquisite ability to show us how the beauty, healing, and nourishment intertwined together can create the Earth's love for us.

We have a few bird feeders in our yard that back up to the woods. As I watch the birds, it seems they are selective with which seeds they want by tossing out what they don't, and below, hungry squirrels and mourning doves anxiously await to gobble up the leftovers. When they are all content, they move on with life, and it all seems so easy. Nature takes care of Nature.

©Photo taken by the author at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

As it is with us ~

We have carried seeds from the moment we were born. The smell of a newborn is a seed of warmth, renewal, and hope. The seed of a baby's smile and the recognition of us for the first time, brings our senses and hearts to expand in joy and the desire to feel this repeatedly. When we are around small children, the seed of their laughter raises a lightness that pulls us to sit down on the floor and play to feed our desire to feel the simplicity of the mind.

As we age, the experiences we have and the wisdom we learn are seeds to guide and help others on their journey, especially when the death of a loved one or healing from a painful struggle is present. Sharing those stories with someone stepping on our path and just beginning to deal with these emotions are the seeds of compassion and empathy at their best. When they walk away feeling lighter, it will not be forgotten because the seed is placed in a pocket of their heart that will show itself again and break open to grow when it is their turn to help another.

We carry various healthy and unhealthy seeds and plant them daily as we interact with people and Nature. For most of us, this is done many times a day without realizing it is what we are doing.

I pondered this.

How difficult is it for me to walk by someone and smile or say hello? Even if they don't acknowledge it, I must remember the seed is planted and let it grow.

Or, how hard is it when going out to eat and the hostess is present to my needs and has a smile and a kindness that helps me enjoy myself even more and then, telling them so? I have seen the change in their eyes, and they walk away seeming uplifted, especially our younger people.

This is the kind of power we carry; let us use it to help lift others, not weigh them down by our negativity, and to do right by this gift in sharing it with others so seeds can be planted. The invisible string of thread that connects us all will take care of watering, nurturing, and passing it along.

Allow the power of your seeds to work for the good of each other and recognize the need that is out there to lift hearts to a new level of living and being. Love is anxiously waiting to move through you. Allow, trust, and surrender to the gifts you carry and change us.

Have days of gathering seeds and planting them not only in others and Nature but, within yourselves and be grateful, life is short, be the change you want to see in the world.

In love and gratitude for your friendship ~

Terry 🦋