Cultivating Aspirations

"Aspiration has been described as our true nature striving to reveal itself. It can be seen as an inherent movement to who we truly are.  The effort of aspiration is soft, not driven by results as by the inner impulse to live more genuinely."  Ezra Bayda, The Authentic Life: Zen Wisdom

Harvest time, and we are reaping what we have sown.  Review the seeds planted two seasons ago, and examine the results.  Did we tend to everything or were we lax in cultivating certain yearnings for creation.  Did we get the easy crops out of the way and neglect the seeds requiring more of our time and efforts.  

In a discussion with a farmer, he compared child rearing to harvesting in this way:  If you take seed and throw it into your field and never work the field, your crop will be spindly.  If you carefully plant the seed into a well cared for field, cut out the weeds and cultivate the rows, your crop has a better chance of survival.

I believe the same can be true for any aspirations.  We will succeed in an authentic life when we take care and strengthen the seeds we plant.  When we pay attention to growth and nurture when needed, our yearnings will bud and sprout.  

So as we survey our fall gatherings, what we have produced will display what kind of care giver we have been to our inner desires.  Did we do just enough to get by?  Have we shied away from goals requiring detailed care?  

Winter, our next season, provides time to pull back and re-assess.  It is a time to plan and regroup.  To do so, we must be genuinely honest with ourselves and determine what truly rests in our heart.  Life takes our energy, and we either use it for our dreams or for the dreams of others.