My mind is fertile. Even in childhood, I was the one with my head in the clouds, dreaming, scheming, generating ideas and questioning the world.
Fertile minds can work for us or against us. It depends upon the fertilizer, really (click to Tweet).
A mind full of dung generates steaming, fetid, heaping piles of shit. Yeah, I said that. Before I went on my summer vacation I was composting media clips, political commentary, mind-spinning current events and fears of our collective future. That composting roiled itself into a seething, slow boiling sort of rage. I do not like the “good” being stolen from me by subversive sources. I especially detest the dismemberment of the truth; there IS good in the world. Nuff said.
I really can’t blame the putrid state of affairs on anyone other than myself. It’s a lot like your diet. Consume a constant regimen of fast food and junk – you get fat. Make choices for a sedentary life-style – you get sick. Deny any spirituality in your life – you become hopeless. Stop working and spend every cent you’ve made – you become impoverished. Focus on the bad in the world – you get angry. Maybe because you know it’s not the truth. Maybe because you can’t do anything about it….
Wait….
But, you can!
I made a few changes. I began by owning up to my own bad choices. I apologized for my misled behaviour. I felt, and bore, the mantle of shame, but hey, I’d earned it. I started exercising more, changed the radio station and got back to ACTIVELY CREATING A WELL-LIVED LIFE. I went from manure a la chicken shite to a healthy, fluffy, organic compost variety and quit focusing on weeds.
Really, it makes a difference. You have to unplug, you have to give up on being on the cutting edge of the bullshit. It isn’t real anyway.
Here’s my recipe for my fluffy fertilizer:
First, gather all the ingredients and be sure you don’t have to run to the store or take the trash out last minute. Mix the following ingredients with positive intentions –
- Fold together the people in your life who enrich you and love you and feed your soul with the truth of who you are.
- Sift in your connection with that thing that is bigger than yourself – the One, whatever it may be, who has a plan for you and your faith in that plan.
- Generously add your infinite capacity to give and love all that is around you. This includes love expressed as forgiveness, acceptance, compassion, understanding and trying to make the world better by lifting up those around you.
- Include a generous pinch of our own gratitude for the fortune you’ve been served, God knows why, when others are struggling and enduring without complaint. It must be this way so you’re available to help others.
- Bake in solitude, reflection, mindfulness and free-will. Be intentionally baked. (click to Tweet).
- Frost with the dignity of work. Select the sweet, soul nourishing work that is your favourite and, in the event it gets stale, drippy or bitter, whip up a fresh batch and frost again. Be tenacious and joyful with your good work – slather it on!
- Serve hot. Or cold. Just serve. Serve often, generously and with gratitude.
It’s easy to give our attention to the loudest voices. It’s the easy thing to acquiesce to sensationalism, the masses, and fear. When we do this, we fail to see the delight of living, the joy in serving and the space to create something different…something better.
I hope if any dear readers are in this dark place, you take control of your garden. No one can make you use fertilizer you don’t want to use. You choose. You are the gardener of your own life. (Click to tweet).
Grow Sweet Things ~
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Michelle Andres is a writer and artist who cultivates her own Well Lived Life by drinking in the beauty around her, following her passion, respecting others and doing her best to own her own dookie.
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15 Comments
Victoria said:
August 26, 2016 at 6:08 pm
I think I need to whip up a new batch of frosting!
Michelle said:
August 26, 2016 at 6:21 pm
Make it sweet, Victoria! I suspect it will be the Iceland on the cake! 😉
Bobbie said:
August 26, 2016 at 7:36 pm
Welcome back m’dear. Of course we out here didn’t know you were so gone. Thanks for sharing.
Michelle said:
August 26, 2016 at 8:57 pm
Thank you, Bobbie! It was a good break. I was able to focus on some projects and get a reprieve from the not-so-real-world.
Susan said:
August 28, 2016 at 12:52 am
Welcome Back! Glad to see you nourished yourself and are back to focusing on the positive. My other half will watch the news and then rant about all that is wrong. I have taken to turning the news off after a quick peek to know if something really important is going on. I’d rather paint than hear all that is bad in the world.
Michelle said:
August 28, 2016 at 12:57 am
I like the way you roll, Susan. I think I’d rather paint than practically anything else! 🙂
Pamela Trump said:
August 28, 2016 at 6:08 pm
I’ve been forwarding your positive musings to our board members. I love the easy flow of your writing and it gives me a boost to jumpstart some things I’ve been putting off….for no good reason. Keep up the positive vibe!
Michelle said:
August 30, 2016 at 5:15 am
Thank you so much, Pamela!!! I love it when people share and am glad you’re finding them useful. I hope the board members like ’em, too!
Deborah Weber said:
August 29, 2016 at 11:16 pm
A most excellent recipe Michelle! And I’m glad to hear you laid claim back to your positive self – you’re a beautiful bloom!
Michelle said:
August 30, 2016 at 5:11 am
It took some work and some luck, Deborah. Sometimes you have to fight your way back, you know. Feels good!
Debbie Winslow said:
August 30, 2016 at 12:17 am
Great recipe! I just took a much-needed, real, honest-to-goodness vacation! I got out of town for almost 2 weeks on a road trip with my husband & dog in our vintage 1966 Streamline aluminum trailer (the Countess) that we have been rescuing, cleaning and refurbishing on & off for the past 2 years. I hadn’t been out of town for more than a couple of days every other year or so since about 2010. This ingredient was the fertilizer I needed more than anything!! It replenished the depleted nutrients that made me tired, pale, moody, and emotionally drained. I came back new, refreshed, relaxed, and stronger than ever. Vacation = Miracle Grow for the mind, body and soul!!! 🙂
Michelle said:
August 30, 2016 at 5:10 am
I’m so happy for you, Debbie. It sounds great! My husband and I have a little travel trailer and we’ve done the same. Lots of fun. Glad it was Miracle Grow for your soul!
Kelly L McKenzie said:
September 2, 2016 at 5:10 pm
Mind your manures. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. As a Canadian, I’ve been watching what is happening in the land of my cousins to the south and as with many others, am finding it mind boggling. Your post is an absolute tonic.
Michelle said:
September 4, 2016 at 8:42 pm
Thank you, Kelly! Eh, after the election can I come live with you? LOL!