LIVING WITH HEART

The Heart’s Blooming Seed

Candace A. Croft, Ph.D.
© 2008 Candace A. Croft

Not the most exquisite of vessels, the paper cup served its purpose.  The little girl planted a seed with the best intentions.  Each day, she peered into the dirt and breathed a kiss upon it.  She affirmed its blessing to the world, reciting how special it was.  Although she did not provide sunlight or water or plant food, she stocked its essence with an abundance of positive thoughts.  Several weeks elapsed without the top of a sprout breaking through the ground.  Still, the little girl, full of hope, refused to give up.

She displayed her garden to those who visited and seemed genuinely perplexed when they did not appreciate the wonder within her cup.  One day, a friend invited her to a tea party.  A sunny day, the party was set in a garden.  Everything was perfection.  The table’s white, lace cloth billowed with a warm breeze, a cloud anchored by gravity.  The tea tasted of nectar and the gold-edged china cups with violets painted upon them lent a delicate touch that reminded the girl to watch her manners.  Nothing, however, compared to the splendor of the tea garden with is climbing hollyhocks, carpet of lilies-of-the-valley, and a mosaic of roses, hydrangeas, coneflowers, and a host of other flowers that were a surprise to a girl who honored a seed in a paper cup.

“What are those?” she asked.

The friend’s mother smiled because she had heard about the girl’s paper cup garden.  “Those are blooms.”

“Blooms?  They’re beautiful.”

“You see, a seed has potential, but little value in itself.  One seed is no different to the world than another.  A bloom is a flower acknowledging its blessed gift from the Master Gardener and proudly showing what its seed is made of.  Until it blooms the seed has not fulfilled its purpose.”

“It’s magic,” the girl whispered with awe.

“Do you want to know a secret?”  When the girl nodded, the friend’s mother leaned nearer and said, “The real magic is that everyone touched by a bloom is graced by its sparkle.”

From that day forward, the girl learned from her friend’s mother how to assist her garden’s seeds in manifesting their glory rather than simply stating their specialness.

There are those among us who, like the little girl, think we need do nothing more than live as a seed and expect the world to recognize our specialness.  Wouldn’t it be great if life worked that way?  Dreams would manifest with little to no effort on our parts.  People would define us as we wanted them to see us, perhaps as we truly are, without any evidence to back it up.   

Yes, it might be great if life worked that way, but it doesn’t.  Ours is an active universe, not a passive one.  Our ethereal souls were housed in a physical body and placed in a physical world for a reason.  Whatever that reason or significance, we were undoubtedly meant to master the art of material creation.  In a scene familiar to many families around the globe, we rebellious children probably told our Creator, “When I have my chance to create Paradise, I won’t be like you.  I’ll do it better.”  Then, we were given a world and a chance to show our stuff.  From hindsight’s greater acuity, we have realized that creation is a difficult task.  It takes more than wanting something to be true or believing something to be true, it takes persistent dedication for the seeds planted in our hearts to unfold with awesome bloom.

We each may view our seeds as beautiful.  Those who love us may look past the dirt to believe in the blessings buried there.   But, the rest of the world?  Morticia Addams may have preferred her roses without their blooms, but she was a fictitious character.  In the words of the magician Lazy Lapis in Annalia’s Simply Splendid Flight, we are each challenged to show that we know what we know.  The seed is latent.  It is potential unrealized.  Each person’s glorious seed is authentic, but only when life’s bloom serves as a true reflection of it.  It is up to each of us to actualize our inner beauty and be a blessing upon the world. 

I have come to believe that, like the lone bonsai tree that grows upon an unlikely rock outcropping weathering drought and storm, we are supposed to nurture a soulful bloom in the most unlikely of places—here, on planet Earth where we creatures have been entrusted with creating a speck of living Paradise in the universe; here, in this place where we are accosted by negativity on a daily basis; here, among a strange species that can celebrate a budding tree or dew on a rose one minute and discount a garden of shining souls the next.  We are asked to persist even as others throw dirt upon our sprout valiantly struggling to break through crusty ground. 

When we do courageously break through to higher ground, for that nanosecond or minute or hour, we thrill with a radiance that spreads from seed to soul.  It permeates our skin and flows out into the world with a sparkle.  In that singular moment, we enjoy the magnificence of self in full bloom.  Most of us will overlook the moment as we rush off to finish tasks that we might find time to stop and smell the roses.  But, the seed quickens and, in our hearts, we know why we are here.  We understand the meaning of life and want to experience it redundantly.  We recognize that the seed may be the heart, but the bloom is the soul of our being.  We want to live with sparkle and bloom again another day.

They say that April showers bring May flowers.  This month, dedicate your self to living with heart and soul.  Commit to your bloom.  Sparkle arises from heart bubbling through every thing a person can think, feel, say, and do.  Find what quickens the seed at your core and brings life to your daily way.  What words can you say that will make your heart giggle?  What thoughts inspire your heart to smile?  What beauty can you acknowledge around you in the most unlikely of places that add glimmer to the day?  By noticing a sunrise, a raindrop clinging to a blade of grass, or invisible colors exposed by cut glass, you reflect that light. 

What activities can you perform that will open your heart and make you sparkle?  It might be something as simple as saying “please” and “thank you” or opening a door for someone; moving your body rhythmically; dusting off the box of 68 and coloring or opening the clay and throwing a pot; expressing your soul through music, whether playing a sonata on the cello or a ditty on the kazoo; playing a round of golf, shooting some hoops, or jumping rope; enjoying the sight of nature; listening to rain on the roof … the options are as limitless as the seeds planted in the garden of souls.  If you have always wanted to be an architect, break out your imagination and design a space.  Wished to be a writer?  Pursue that journal or short story weaving through your mind.  Aspirations as a healer?  Learn about nutrition, energy, and wellness.  A chef?   Try a new recipe each week.  As long as it brings shimmer and makes you feel good about being alive, nothing is small or irrelevant.

April 22 is a day of global environmental awareness.  Each individual soul is inextricably linked to the globe, affecting and affected by the environment.  This Earth Day bloom with self-awareness.  Increase your sparkle output.  Make a point of showing your shimmer and Gaia will shine.  When you take bloom and live in reflection of your seed, you will—

KEEP YOUR HEARTLIGHT SHINING