"What plant can grow if you keep lifting it from the soil?" - Hafiz

In reading the above, I was reminded that this month marks 3 years in my home in the Village of Oak Creek, and 5 years since leaving the Valley of the Sun (aka Phoenix) and relocating to the beautiful Red Rock Country of Sedona. I spent 6 years in the same home in the east valley of Phoenix,

Photo courtesy of Esther Shapiro, RN, Msc.D

Leaving behind the buzzing metropolises of New York and Phoenix, in this more rural and mellow surrounding I've been able to plant roots in this small community, starting from before I really even relocated. For Sedona may be small in population, but it is way big in international flavor, beauty, friendliness, and spirituality. Very often, when just out and about running chores, I say aloud "And, I LIVE here!!!" and thank Spirit for this blessing.

My soul is enriched by its soil of people and nature; I am firmly planted here and will grow deeper roots until Spirit informs me to do otherwise.

Blessings,

Whatever I may perceive to be a flaw - in me or others - can be used for good, for creating beauty, instilling joy, and showering blessings into this world. I need to remain open-minded and venture into other perspectives, a powerful lesson as illustrated in this traditional Buddhist story and popular tale...

An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots; they hung on opposite ends of a pole, which she carried across the back of her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of a long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman's bringing home only one and a half pots of water.

Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do. After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream.

"I am ashamed of myself because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house."

The old woman smiled, "Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but none on the side of the other pot? Because I have always known about your flaw, I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without your being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house." 

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