Fruit: Nourishment
Summer is the season of delicious, amazing fruit, which is the direct result of the desire of flowers. Is there a fruit that doesn’t start as a flower first? What seems frivolous from our standards (flowers everywhere!) is truly a purposeful and wonderful gift of nourishment, for people, for animals, for the earth. Fruit is everywhere once you start to look for it—and not just in the supermarket or farmer’s market. A fruit tree planted decades ago can continue to produce long after it’s “cared for.” Why? Because nature can’t help but come to fruition! And that fruit is nourishment for everything.
Think about your favorite fruits and how and where they grow. What are you bringing to fruition in your life? How do you nourish others? How do you nourish yourself? What is the optimal environment you need to come to fruition so that you can be the most nourishing to yourself and others?
Make sure to come back tomorrow!
I need good friends, good books, good food and reasonably good health, to feel nourished. And also, creative minds and hearts like yours, Maria, to help me remember all these wonderful things that are present everyday in my life, and appreciate them and you. Thanks, once again.
Ditto to everything Alice said. To round things off is good love, good loving, and a loving partner.
How clever, and what a way to make one think:)) My favorite fruit is the banana. I’m constantly making goals, seeking ways to improve my life and trying to live each day with laughter. What I try to bring to others is the same thing I strive to do daily, which is to laugh. I’ve often said, “if I’m not laughing, it’s not worth it”. This applies to my job, daily activities, in the gym, or in serious places like church or a hospital. I know i’d go “bananas” without laughter, maybe the reason the banana is my favorite fruit is to avoid what would happen without a laugh:) I prefer to only surround myself with positive people, especially getting older, and that usually goes along with being near fun or funny people. The world is much better with laughs and good times:)
One thing I try to remember is that, like fruit, our own lives have seasons where different qualities and experiences are optimally planted, ripened, and harvested. Some days it’s easy to feel scattered or pressured about not being able to get to everything that matters to me, but if I remember there are seasons in my life, I am better able to make wise choices about what to focus on, and tend to those things without feeling conflicted. I also try to remember that growing things like fruit trees and me need room to gather sunlight and nourishment.
Ah… nourishment. As a busy mom-teacher, I find myself always nourishing others and not nourishing myself. I love to care for others… people, plants, animals, policy issues… all but myself. For some reason, I don’t burn out.. I thrive on caring. Perhaps this is because so much of my youth was spent in a rather care-free mode. I had the blessing of being well-cared for by a loving, single mom who was an excellent care-giver. During this season of life, I emulate her pattern and care passionately about how to make our world a better place now. And in my own, very small urban garden setting, I grow apples, cherries, blackberries, raspberries and gooseberries. I am so very thankful for these fruits and all the many blessings given unconditionally to me.