How Lovely is the Silence of Growing Things

Amid the everyday rush to accomplish everything which is on my agenda - caring for the cats on the sanctuary, going to college, attending meetings of the various non-profits which I work with, and finding time for doing my daily gongyo (Buddhist prayers) - I often forget to look up from whatever task is at hand and notice the world around me. This is a sad thing to consider, when I live on the most amazingly beautiful planet in this Universe. My little corner of the world is particularly lovely, especially now that summer approaches. The woods in which my small home nestles is a glorious symphony of greens as the trees leaf and the underbrush grows. I need to stop and really look again, to realize how many shades of green there are around me. Above all I need to allow the healing energies of Green to fill my mind and soothe my soul.

This sanctuary of green in the untamed woods is filled with life. The deer come right up behind the house to browse on the sweet new grass; birds and squirrels run rampant through the treetops; the little runoff brook which crosses the property is gurgling sweetly with the fullness of abundant rain. This time of the year is one which I need to savor, and to store up my memories of, for the hot, dry days of July and August soon to come.

And even the rainiest days are a blessing to experience here. They present a too-rare opportunity to snuggle up with a horde of small furry companions, to browse through the forgotten treasures which my library holds in wait, and to nap with the music of rain on the roof overhead. I am truly blessed!

I am blessed indeed, to be able to have this small home in the woods to live in. I am blessed to be given the chance to attend college at long last, and gain the education which has been sorely missed in my life. I am blessed to be able to care for all of the furry beasts who wouldn't have a chance at life without me to give them a home. And I am blessed to have wonderful friends and mentors who care for me, and want to see me succeed in all of my endeavors.

I will not address all of the deficits which I can claim, or my failings, or my hardships. Today is for joy alone, and appreciation of what I do have in this wonderful life. Today is for Green.