Appreciating the Beauty Abound

“Long ago,” her grandmother sighed, “people used to be confused by the weather.” Vinolia (pronounced vin-ole-ee-uh) looked puzzled. Her grandmother continued, “not completely confused, but almost distraught when the weather would behave in ways that they didn’t expect. Seasonally, of course, they were able to understand that there were different times of the year where different weather patterns were expected, but when there were times during the year that the weather didn’t obey the ‘laws’ that they thought the weather was supposed to act within, it was quite uneasy making.”

Vinolia’s grandmother continued to explain to her about what it was that she meant. Of course, Vinolia had no idea what she was talking about because in the time that Vinolia has been part of nature, she understood the subtleties of nature. Vinolia comprehended that nature was not behaving out of whack when these times that would occur were “outside the norm.” In Vinolia’s time, there was no norm. Well that wasn’t completely accurate either. Vinolia just knew how to read the norm for what it was and not what it was the last year. The norm was created on a daily basis.

Her grandmother could see that Vinolia was coming to the end of a thought and began speaking again. “People from times well before you and I, Vinolia, they didn’t know how to read the nuances in nature. They didn’t understand that if there was a full moon in the East sky during the afternoon that it meant the next day we could expect it to be quite rainy. They didn’t understand things like these, Vinolia. They were not taught by their ancestors how one could walk through an open-field and tell where to plant each crop based on the amount of sunlight and rain it was going to get. Now, this is not their fault, no. We needn’t blame them for not learning about these kinds of things.”

Vinolia was a bit baffled by this. Why wouldn’t we blame them for not knowing these kinds of things? Her grandmother laughed and continued, “I can see you thinking that we should be blaming them for not learning these kinds of things. I can understand where you’re coming from, but just as I can understand where you’re coming from, it is important that you come to the realization as to where they were coming from. It was a completely different time that they lived in, Vinolia. We, of course, live in a time where we share a deep connection with our surroundings. We know just how many steps it is to the fruit trees in the yard and how many steps there are between the house and the vegetable garden. These are things that we hold as important [veggie gardens and fruit trees].”

She was beginning to gain a better grasp of where her grandmother was going and this is why there was a shift in the energy of the conversation. “Vinolia, I can see that you’re starting to get what it is that I’m saying, so I won’t continue on down the same path. Instead, I’ll switch gears. During their time, they held other things to be of more important as I can see you’re coming to conclude. I bet you’re wondering what it is that they deemed valuable, right?” Vinolia nodded. Her grandmother smiled and went on, “fruit trees and veggie gardens.” Now Vinolia was downright bewildered.

“But grandmother, how. . . ” her grandmother cut her off before she could continue, “Why is it that we hold these things to be of value, Vinolia? Why do we appreciate the lily pond, the frogs, the tadpoles, the lotus flowers, the elm trees, and the carrot stalks? Why do we love those things?”

“Because we understand that they are part of us and we are part of them. There is a relationship between us and nature and the more we nurture it, the more love and compassion we are able  to feel.”

“They knew that, too, Vinolia. They knew that if they spent more times in their gardens and out in what they called ‘national parks’ that they would feel better inside of themselves. Before you ask me why they didn’t, I’ll tell you – it wasn’t their fault. They were just believing their thoughts. Deep down, they knew that if they would only finish this one task or do this other task that they would then be able to go out and enjoy the moment.” She laughed. “It’s a strange thing to think, ‘if I do this, then I can enjoy the moment, but not until later.’ We understand differently, Vinolia.”

The lights were starting to go on for Vinolia. She shifted the way she was sitting to allow her to be able to take in the banana tree behind where her grandmother was speaking. “I can see that you just shifted in your place to take in the banana tree, while you listened to me. That kind of thing, Vinolia, they wouldn’t have done. They would have stayed in place until the conversation was over and then not even have noticed the banana tree on their way back to doing some other task that they thought they were supposed to do.”

She was starting to get it. In a time well before hers, people weren’t as able to breakaway from what was happening inside their head. They hadn’t yet learned to stop the stream of thoughts that berated their mind non-stop. They hadn’t realized that their mind was their mind and they were able to do with it what they please. They didn’t have to let these thoughts continuously flow into their heads. Vinolia breathed a sigh of gratitude. She was grateful that she had learned how to enjoy the moment.