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Monday, October 11, 2010

Gardening

Within us all there is this deep seeded need to tell the truth.  To be a truth-teller.

It is not about individual white lies or black lies, but about the lies we live out in our life's drama in front of the crowd.  In front of ourselves.  In front of the people we love and are afraid will not love us back if they knew the truth.

We worry that they wouldn't be able to handle it if we stopped flocking with all the other sheep.

But while we are talking about truth, remember the audience.  Those that surround us in our circles of family, friends and acquaintances are all playing our their drama too.  And mostly they are living embodiments of their own webs of untruths.  We become these tightly intertwined works of art in which it is difficult to distinguish fact from fiction. They believe us and we believe them.  

And what if we are all telling stories?  Making-believe to make the others happy?  To make each other feel safe in fabrications and falsehoods?  Which serve only to disintegrate us from the inside out.

Zen Buddhists think of the mind as a garden.  Within the garden are the seeds of everything ~ all of the good and all of the bad.  It is the job of the gardener to cultivate which seeds will blossom and thrive, which in turn makes up the bouquet of living.

What if you started today to tell the truth about those parts of yourself that weigh on your heart?  That are reminders that you're not quite on the right path?  That whisper in your ear possibilities.  That there's more than this.  What if today you changed your drama and the way it is playing out?  What is keeping you from it?

Every time you live your purpose a little closer to the truth you free not only yourself but those around you.  In giving yourself permission to be who you are, you in turn permit others.  You change the composition of your garden.  New things bloom.

Lead your own story.  Courage builds courage and is very contagious!

3 comments:

joanne said...

really it boils down to fear... fear of what someone might lose or give up... fear of losing themselves entirely, or losing those around them... asleep to the realization that without our stories we are free...

and it is also true that freedom does sometimes come with an accompanying cost...it may mean enduring losses along the way.

Clara Gorham said...

Ange.........what joy to know you....I love you......and that's the truth.
Your dear ole Auntie Clara.

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful analogy for life, thank you for sharing your thoughts on this! There are many little things that each day I choose not to be true to myself about and I appreciate the friendly nudge :)
-Lisa