To Be...Or Inter-Be: That Is The Question

To Be Or Inter-Be...

That Is The Question

Who are you? Who is Michelle? Adam? Michael? Laura?

What comes to mind?

Are you an accountant? A nurse?

A brother? A friend?

Are you a runner? An activist? An atheist? An artist?

Who are you?

Are you this body?

Or are you this mind?

Who are you? Are you sure of it?

I slept and I had a dream. I was the only person on the whole planet. It was just earth and I. The land was vibrant green, and the water aqua blue, there were trees and fish, free animals and vibrant sunlight. There were no buildings, no pollution, no factories, no roads. There were no others.

Everyday I would wake up early with the sun. And I would sit comfortably with my legs crossed and do nothing but breathe in the air Earth would feed me. When I would begin to feel the vibrations of the sunlight energy in my soul, I would then stretch and start my day.

It was just me and the earth.

For a moment, I was a bird and I looked down on myself, alone in the world. My footprints were but one matching pair. For a moment, I looked down on myself; so alone.

But then I looked down and the earth held my footprints and I knew she was there with me.

Later on in the dream I ran into another human being. At first I was nervous. At first I was unsure. At first, I hesitated. I almost turned away.

When I saw her digging in the ground with her shovel, I cringed and I put my hands on the earth and I said “but you are mind. And she is hurting you.”

But the next day I saw a flower where the girl had dug her hole and we began to talk and I was not afraid anymore. She, too, loved earth and I knelt beside her and dirtied my hands.

 Many days we then spent together. And if there was ever a time I needed to share something, I looked for her footprints and I found her and together we walked on earth, sharing and laughing.

And then I said to her “I hope you never go. For without your footprints, I would be lost.”

But as the years passed, more humans beings came to planet earth. They spread across the countryside. They settled on different landforms. They planted bigger plants. And then homes. And then buildings. And then walls.

And I didn’t need my friend so much because of beings there were many and, anyways, I couldn’t find her footprints anymore.

At the end of the dream I found myself alone. I felt troubled by something in the pit of my stomach. Maybe I missed my friend. And so I knelt on planet earth, my eldest and truest friend, and she said to me, “Thee who carries in them, a bit of my light, in this time of trouble, ask yourself who you are.”

And now I am awake from my dream and I am sitting on a flattened pillow on the balcony of my hostel, writing this blog and I ask you all to be with me.

I would not be where I am today without each and every one of you.

I hope it would not take the world coming down to just 2 people, for us to realize and appreciate that we live in one another. We feed off each other’s energy. We share our eyes with our mother, who received them from our grandparents, and their faces would be what without those of our great grand-parents?

We carry another man’s labor on the shirts we wear on our backs. We wear a smile that we borrowed from a dog rolling around the floor on his back. We live in a body that is nourished by the fruits of our land.

So, who are you?

To be… Or inter-be. A bit of me lives in you, and you within me.

Yoga Is Like This

Ever hear the story of the guy who cursed the pile of sh*t?

So there’s a guy walking down the street…

He’s headed for work and in his rush, he steps in a big pile of sh*t. He begins to curse at it in anger in frustration, yelling “you dirty pile of sh*t”.

It is then that the sh*t begins to speak. “Who’s dirty? I’m dirty? Do you know what I was yesterday?”

And the man stands confused.

The sh*t continues, “Yesterday I was cupcakes and cookies and pancakes and hot chocolate. I only became this way after I passed through you. So, now, you tell me, who is the dirty one?”

While I do have a pretty raunchy foot fungus going on due to my soggy sneakers after my jungle trek, the point of the story is not that we are dirty human beings.

The point is that we forget.

We rush to work and we forget to see where we are going. We care so much about our own daily tasks, that we forget about the greater importance of things going on in the world. We forget that everything came from somewhere, and everything will go somewhere or become something else.

We think garbage is gross. But that very garbage was yesterday’s fresh orange juice.

Similarly, we think flowers are so beautiful…and are those flowers not composed of the remains of our compost and insect feces?

Next week I have examinations to become a Certified Yoga Educator. Never has that title held such value, meaning and understanding in my heart.

May 31 will be the culmination of a very special month for me.

It has been not just a sattvic month, but also a vegan month. It has been not just a fruit, vege, grain month, but a home-made soy milk, not 1 processed food month. It has been not just a no-coffee month, but a home-made daily tea month.

It has been a month surrounded by conscious individuals, loving souls, and visionaries. It has been a month interacting with activists, responsible citizens and passionate hearts. People who made compassion, friendliness, trust and forgiveness come easily. People who made me think “I can” and who made me believe the earth can once again be a balanced place, as it was when it was first created.

Before I came here, I feared the 5am wake-up…and now I couldn’t imagine missing the sunrise hour.

The morning meditations, then asana practice, then fresh oats with ripe berries… every morning, truly blessed, in every sense of the word.

I thought I would learn new yoga poses, the history of yoga and yoga principles. What I really learned, was to say grace.

I thought I would learn deep principles that I would write in calligraphy and post on my bedroom wall. What I learned was to be friendly, to have compassion for those who may cause hurt, and to feel joy in the success of others.

The yoga principles are basic. As are the physical postures, diet, and lifestyle… Very basic. Yet, deeply delicious and rewarding if you have the patience to put them into practice…

Work happily.

Live in the present (not the past, nor the future).

Be really concentrated in all that you do.

And have faith in a higher reality…

The earth is our only home. It doesn’t matter who or what you believe in, if you are this religion or that, or all, or neither. It doesn’t matter if you believe in science or the church. We are all here because of the earth. There are things we may never be able to explain in this material world- one that we cannot explain is just how we got here. But we are here. Now. And the earth is our only home.

So, why not live like we know that?

Why not remove the blinders that have told us that “sh*t” is shit. Because, it is not and you don’t have to be a genius to realize that it wasn’t born that way.

Awareness is a powerful thing…and you don’t have to be a Buddha or Priest or Guru to practice it.

Just take a moment to recognize that the earth is our only home and the only thing that is guaranteed is this moment.

How do you value your days?

What do you want to put into your body- the only vehicle you have to carry you through this world?

How will you treat the guy who pumps your gas today? A guy who may have 4 children at home that he struggles to feed.

What will you do when the lady behind you speaks too loudly on her cell phone on the train? When did you become ruler of the world? And why do you need to let her control your state of happiness?

Life is tricky…and we all fall for the traps.  

Many times this month, I have had nightmares after days and days of self-reflecting on my actions. Many times I have asked for forgiveness. And more times, I have asked for guidance.

Because, I have felt what it feels like to avoid the trap. In the moment it is difficult, and a part of you just wants to be weak, to give in. But when you make it out alive, you feel more liberated, more confident, more fulfilled than ever.

Every trap is an opportunity. Every small problem is a chance to get creative, to find a new solution, to grow. And you will.

And you will keep on walking and say to yourself “how lucky I am that I stepped in shit today, because I had almost forgotten how fortunate I am to be able to eat sweet foods on a daily basis, when most others do not.”

And, you will laugh to yourself, at how silly it is to curse the world for our own creations. 

Same, Same, but Different

I remember the moment my soul was at ease as our plane lifted up in the air 3 weeks ago and glided over New York. No more anticipation of “Am I ready to live out of a backpack again? What about my green smoothies? And am I sure I want to meditate heavily for 31 days?”

The plane and I were up in the air, about 3 hours into a 20 hour flight and all the anxieties washed away. As we floated about planet earth, I giggled to myself. What the difference between me being dropped down below on any different region of the world? We’re all people. There’s always going to be land and water, laughter and wonders, love and wisdom.

The big joke in Thailand is “same, same, but different”. It is overused by tourguides trying to pick up the naïve backpacker and take him on his tuk tuk to random places around the city for $1.50 and it is overwritten on neon tank tops for the travel-proud Americano. However cheesy it rings to the travel-sick adventurer, and albeit cliché, ‘tis the truth.

I heard from a wise guru yesterday that “all the problems in the world are created by the idea of separateness.”

mmmm. Let that one sink in.

Think about how someone asks a question about your dog, your t-shirt, your music, and you start to get a little excited inside. Think about how you can’t help but smile when you see a child rolling around on the ground giggling. Energy is contagious. What we do, how we live our lives, affects the world.

Pick up your milk carton, look at your banana, chew your bread- you do understand that every product is made from materials that are extracted from Earth? You don’t think that when you eat them, they disappear- you know they become a part of you, right?

So, how come we live with this idea of separation? How come we put no thought into the people who drive us in their yellow cabs?-- for one day I spoke to mine and he actually paid ME for the ride (as a contribution to my fundraiser).  How come we buy things we don’t need without thinking and then we throw them in our garbage as if all the plastic will disintegrate, as if hands didn’t work hard in a factory to build it for us, as if the company that created it cared about the treatment of it’s employees?

Are you living in a way where you take some time to think about using your voice, your actions, your money to give power to your highest commitments? Or are you just doing the motions? Are you just a robot who has said “ok life, you got me. Ok society, you rule my life. Ok world, I’ve got nothing left to give. This is it. There’s not enough time or ways. This is just the way it is.”

I spent 3 days in Thailand with a hill tribe. As we turned around a steep bend in the countryside, the smoke crawled over the mountainside from the slash and burn farming. A mother was scrubbing her clothes in the river below. Chickens were chasing each other around the rice paddies. Sure, I was in Thailand…that’s what the land boundaries told me anyways…but I may as well have been in El Salvador.

Maybe you’re sick of the “it reminded me of El Salvador” stories…but I guess that’s what happens when something pangs so deeply in your heart and accompanies you everywhere in your soul. It changes your view on “reality” and becomes a part of your every-minute-you. It is not in your consciousness, it IS your consciousness.

Point being, I lived those 3 days in tiny bamboo huts in a very small and rural village in Thailand without electricity and running water. I could not speak a word of Thai, but I laughed with the children in the school yard and chased puppies with the drunk guys in the evening. I helped Dang (our guide) cook a rice curry dinner and then bathed behind a rock in the river (before Dang casually tried to join me).

I laid beneath my mosquito net on the bamboo floor at night and I could see the stars from between the cracks in the roof.

And then it started to rain.

A fairytale, I know. I’m aware that it’s too good to be true.

So sure enough, the tears began to roll down my cheeks.

Because it was all so beautiful. Nature. Stars. Crisp water and genuine smiles. People who care about each other and the places we step our feet.

Because I missed Lili and her innocent smile. Because I missed my little Salvadoran doggie and how he chased the chickens. Because I missed my latrine, because at least we used toilet paper.

I cried a little because I thought about how Dang told me that 10 years ago this village was different. Now, they are used to the tourists popping in to say hello. They try to sell us bracelets, massages, overpriced sodas…they get angry if we don’t comply.

I face so many inner struggles about venturing the world, longing to experience all it has to teach me, yet fretting my carbon-footprint, emotional abuse, and confusion I send to the minds of those I enter.

Same, same, but different.

“Hey, massage-lady. I aint go no money either. My credit cards are maxed out and I’m looking for a loan to grad school. But how’s your day going? Is this your daughter?”

She walks away.

Same, same, but different.

“In your eyes, do you just see me as a big ole American-Bank-Account? Do you realize I actually care about you? Do you know I already love you? Your boldness and ambition. The way you tend your chickens and the children you brought into this world?”

It’s okay. There are misunderstandings, I know. It’s not her fault she sees me that way. It happens in my country, too.

I gave my camera to the smiling tot who was too young to understand the challenges of the adult-world. Later, I flipped through his photos as I sat upon a bamboo rail overlooking the mountains.

Give a camera to a child if you really want to see the world, if you want to learn a culture, if you want to think and discover.

Stray dogs with flea bellies. Blurred shots of kids chasing each other in torn clothing. The inside of the outhouse. The man squatting above a smokey wood-burning stove. His own, very, very dirty barefoot toes.

I love this life.

It may seem strange to some. “what is she doing out there again? How can she live like that?” To me it’s not odd at all. It is natural.

Not everyone has to do this. Everyone has their own path. And each path can be beautiful. We just have to embrace it.

Be friendly to all those who are around you. Energy is contagious so when you think of all the people you spray when you sneeze, recognize you can have the same affect with your smile.

If you want to do something and your heart starts to beat and creates a little feeling of un-comfortableness, don’t turn away- jump in. Those moments have the best outcomes.

Attempt looking at new people, old people, strange places, awkward rides, as opportunities for growth and learning. Everyone and everything has gifts to offer the world- for we all share this same light and desire to be loved and happy. Blur the lines that divide our bodies, our places, our countries and see these inner gifts instead. We’re all the same, same, but different.

And So, I'm Off

Dear Family and Friends,

I would like to say farewell (for now), give you a quick update, and ask nothing but that you keep in touch and keep me in mind!

Over the past few months, you may have been wondering why I am standing on my head, where I am standing on my head, or when I am going to stop. Hopefully, this addresses some of your concerns.

On Monday I'll be shipping out to Thailand for 2 months. The first few days will be spent visiting my little sister, Christina, who has been riding elephants, learning Thai cooking, and riding down rivers on bamboo rafts...I mean studying the semester abroad... 

May 5, I move into an ashram, (a spiritual living quarters run by Indian gurus) located in a rural region of Chiang Mai, Thailand to immerse myself in a month of yoga and meditation. While I am confident there will be ample head-standing time, I will mostly be waking with the sun for morning meditation, studying traditional yoga philosophy, breathing, postures and lifestyle principles, through a course of personal development and habituation to spiritual consciousness. 

Upon graduation, I will receive an International Yoga Teaching Certification... and will be sufficiently stranger than I was upon my immediate return from Peace Corps. 

All joking aside, this stuff is really important to me. Peace Corps opened my world to the very real concept of World Peace and I am passionate about staying on this path of wellbeing for the greater good. After quitting my job as Project Coordinator at a Non Profit in NYC in December, I enrolled in an Integrative Nutrition program in January, where I am currently studying Holistic Health. Along with my side-job working after school with children with special needs, I have become so awakened to what it means to live life fully and gratefully in the present moment. 

This journey to study at the Wise Living Yoga Academy in Thailand, is the next step on my path towards better understanding how I can most purposely serve this world. 

When I return mid-June, I will have a few months to offer you all my guidance in Yoga, Meditation, and healthy living with my dual certification as a Health Coach and Yoga Instructor. In August, I am honored to have accepted a full scholarship to study at the United Nations mandated University for Peace in Costa Rica where I will receive a Masters degree in Environmental Studies after 1 year successful completion. 

I am blessed to have you all in my life and ask you all to keep in touch and keep me in mind. 

If you are interested in hearing some of my stories, I love to write on my blog: livebyhappiness.blogspot.com

Much love and may everyday you see some light.

Jaime

May the beauty you love be what you do. There are are thousands of ways to kneel and kiss the ground. -Rumi

A Day in My Shoes

I saw the Facebook statuses and my shoulders slumped and my head tilted back and my stomach knotted and I thought "Oh no, not again." I didn't want to look. I didn't want to see the news, the replay of the explosion over and over. The people running without thought. Fear instilled at an event of inspiration.

"Not again, please."

That's all I can say. Because I don't know how to feel. I'm frustrated. I cannot sit here and study nutrition when the world is in turmoil.

So, I push everything aside and I take a deep breath. Okay. What do I have control over at this moment? 

I take another deep breath. I look at the cars that continue to pass...maybe they haven't heard the news yet. I look at the wind blowing the leaves on my trees in a gentle sway. They know little destruction, besides when the man comes with his saw.

I take another deep breath that passes through my chest and deep into my stomach and I look up at the sky. It is blue. It is calm. It tells me "you are here and I am here for you."

I feel the imbalance within me. My soul wants to be there with those in need. It has much love to share.

So I clear the table of my studies and I start to write. The words become little sketches.

And then I remember my shoes. I grab my fresh white Toms and a set of sharpies and I start to draw the things that make me feel right about the world. I draw the things that make me smile. I create images and designs that are little reminders of who I am and what I have. I put my inspiration on my shoes because I walk in them everyday, and I want them to carry me.

I draw "kiss the ground" because it reminds me to be humble and grateful. I write "ahimsa" because it is a beautiful expression of nonviolence. I draw my 2 patria, New York and El Salvador because they are my two worlds, my one home, my reason for being.

I put everything on my shoes so that when I look down on the subway or huddled masses, I see through the distraction to what carries me.

And I want love and compassion and gratitude to carry me.

So, on a day when everything in the world had stopped, I used my emotional energy to set an intention for how I want to walk forward.

It pains me deeply to think of the innocent lives lost: children, people with passion, people with drive, people who are innocent. It pains me to think of the confusion of the communities in Boston, in the US, in the world. People will be angry. People will be sad, bitter, resentful. People are confused, frustrated, maybe even hateful.

These things are happening more and more often.

Wow, we have accomplished SO much as a nation- as a world. What pride.

Tell me, what good is all the success, the opportunity, the GDP, the growth, if we do not know how to live? If we cannot come together as brothers as sisters, nation by nation, and run in the name of freedom?

Opportunity is amazing and constant hope for more keeps us growing. But sometimes opportunity creates distraction. We don't ever know if this race is our last. So we must remind ourselves of the beauty that is now (while we search for future growth). Because one without the other is nothing. We need bells of mindfulness, like my shoes, like a book each morning or a hug each night, that reminds us we are here right now and it is all we know and all we have and it is beautiful.

"The planet does not need more successful people. The planet desperately needs more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers and lovers of all kinds." -HH Dalai Lama.

I blame no one for what has happened in Boston.

We are all in this together. You may say I'm a dreamer, but I believe in my heart that we are one world. 

This event pains me because I do not want to think that it will cause people to have less faith. 

World peace is possible. It is.

It is time for us to be true about our intentions to live. Stop walking aimlessly. Don't be blind to the blue sky and don't curse the weeds.

We don't know each others' story. Every living being serves a purpose on this world. 

We do know that we all want to be loved. It is the innate nature of living things.

Overtime we can become so distracted, conditioned and numb. We may have lost sight of who we are. We may have lost touch with the beauty that is our heart that beats effortlessly for us at every given moment. We may have rushed out the door so fast in the morning that we forgot to appreciate our warm meal or smiley baby. We may have gotten so used to our daily habits that we forgot the man who makes our breakfast sandwich is a father who likes to see his baby smile, too, and not just a guy who makes a breakfast sandwich.

The planet desperately needs more peacemakers. 

It's not so hard really. 

It's simple to ask the crossing guard how her day is going.

It's simple to hold the door for a stranger.

It's simple to say "God bless you feet, because you have carried me safely to my office".

But you may be very distracted. Because we have wonderfully constructed a society of buildings and trains, nail salons and Wall Streets, playgrounds and plastered faces. 

And it's all quite all right really. We wanted it and we made it happen. We want more and we will most likely get that too. Because we have creativity and motivation and opportunity. Man, we have opportunity to do anything. We have so much freedom and rights.

But do you know what you stand for? And do you remember every morning?

Or do you need to make a pair of shoes?

Because I refuse to walk blindly. And I refuse to live in fear of the next bombing. 

The planet desperately needs more peacemakers.

So while you continue the daily fight for success, please remember what you are fighting for.

Take a moment to breathe, because the world needs you.

I don't blame anyone for what has happened. Because we are all in this together.

I see that this has happened from confusion; from misunderstanding and distractions from love and life. Whoever did this has confused me for a girl who runs in pink shoes, and not a sister.

Whoever did this has forgotten that the peoples that were targeted were not US citizens, they were hearts that beat for their mothers and fathers and for the smiles of those on the sidelines. They were young souls who would have grown up to love Boston, New York, El Salvador, India, or Israel. They would have run for charities to raise funds for people in need, people who may have been related to their perpetrators. 

Whoever did this misunderstands the world. They are afraid of the power we all have to make a change. They live from fear and look what it has done. 

From fear, you cannot create any good.

From love and empowerment, we can create amazing things.

The planet needs more peacemakers. So put on a good pair of shoes and let's walk together. 

Sharing Joy

Here is an email I received from Saul this morning. It made me cry, yet again. I loved this story so much, I wanted to share it with as many people as possible. The following are his words. Nothing has been changed or edited. I thought it was perfect. (Also featured are Saul's photos from the conference. He is also an amazing photographer.)

I hope everything is going well for you, and you might be wondering about my conference and my project, everything went successful.

This dream comes true! I won the seed funding for the commitment but before that I would like to share with you my experience.  Days before the conference I got a great email telling me that my project was selected to the semifinals. I was very excited but also it was overwhelming, I had to prepare a presentation and material display. All my spring break I was working on it. The day that I arrived in St. Louis Missouri I had the presentation right away for the semifinal, it was like school fair where people go to your table and talk about your project. It was very informal presentation but in the same time the judges were judging us. When I get there and I had my table ready I had: 2 posters, one digital display, I had a book of my project, pens, pencils and wristband and all was personalized as Sharing Joy. 

In the first 30 minutes I had three judges and I thought that was difficult because they were asking very tough questions. In the end of my presentation I had 5 judges and two secrets judges that didn't say that were judges until the last minute. Also around 70 people went and see my table and talk about it, theirs feedback were very positive about my project. I got around 15 business cards and around 35 people signed up because they want to learn more about this project. People that want to support me in many ways and also people that want me to give ideas about how to start a very interesting project.

After that I went to the opening ceremony by Bill Clinton I was so excited to see him and listen his speech. He come out with his daughter Chelsea Clinton, everybody was crazy about theirs presence. I couldn't wait and I got the opportunity to go right in front of the stench were the social media was and I was shooting pictures of every movement that he did. 

I was so excited I couldn't believe that. After the ceremony I went to the hotel and wait for the results of the judges. I stay up until 12 pm waiting for the email and I fall sleep. I woke up around 6 am and I check my email and I just saw an email that said congratulations you are in the final. I just run and got my phone and talk with host mother and get everything ready because I had to be at 8.30 in the final audience. I got there 30 minutes before.  They asked to go inside and explain my project. They were three judges and two video cameras recording my speech. 

I felt like I was in the court those judges were looking very strict. I did not feel the 5 minutes presentation, I tried to cover everything in two extras minutes. They started to ask questions and I respond them from my heart. After that my stressed went a little bit down but I knew that I had to present in that evening again my project for exchange and networking and in that moment Chelsea Clinton was going to announce the winners. I saw her when she was going to the steach but I didn’t pay attention. I saw many people excited and everything but I was very busy with people discussing my project. I saw my friend Gabhy running to me and saying congratulations and I said what? She said you won. 

I couldn’t believe, so I went to meet with them because we had to have pictures taken and also video. They gave a bag which included: plaque, certificate, camera, and a congratulation letter and some paper work. I was so excited. So after that I went to watch to see the famous arch in downtown. And Sunday getting ready to come back.

This was a complete busy weekend and unique because I will never forget it. Something that comes out as an idea is going to be reality. I feel very thankful with God for this opportunity and also to put people in mi side that are supporting me in all the way. Especially my host mother, a woman that every second wanted to know how my project was going, staying up very late with me helping with all the stuff. 

Also Brock Garret, Peace Corp volunteer that helped me to come to the USA and support me a lot with this project. Also another great person Jaime Posa, another Peace Corp volunteer that was in my community, she is just amazing she provide me wonderful photos that she took of people in my town and supporting me in many more ways.  Also I would like to thank you Dan Mcroberts for helping with the project, there was a time when I was feeling like " I cannot go, I do not know what and how to do this" I email him and he said “Tell me how can I help you” that made me go forward. Also my Coordinators: Christopher Knight, Georgina Tegart and the International Office for all the support.

This conference brought me more inspiration that we can do it; we can change the world even with small actions! I am looking forward to do my best in this project now that I have it and also I got a really good networking with people around the world. I feel very happy that I had the chance to go there.

Thank you very much for your support and looking forward to have more communication with you.

Please "Like" Saul's project on Facebook!: 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sharing-Joy/568833429799062

 
 

Jose Saul Vasquez

SEED Scholar. El Salvador

Northcentral Technical College

Office Of International Programs

1000 W. Campus Drive

Wausau WI 54401

715-573-6252

 

alternative e-mail saul_vasquez17@hotmail.com 

The Good Farmer

The Good Farmer
*A Poem By my friend, Doug DeCandia*

The Good Farmer is an activist of justice
in a most passive and radical of ways,
growing food and medicine
seeds and hope
at once;

the Good Farmer watches the sun
in reverence, and in silence
they pray to the Light
and Grace
that shines upon all things;

the Good Farmer enriches the soil with minerals,
balancing energetics
like the conductor of a great orchestra;the Good Farmer is always
reading
the history of the World in a handful of soil,
the Universe in a tiny seed,
reflecting
upon their own reflection
in the clear waters
and stories
of eternity;

the Good Farmer respects the integrity of time,
and believing there is no end to time,
they plant trees;the Good Farmer accepts science as well as poetry,
yet prefers wonder to intelligence,
denying not knowledge
as it is a catalyst to understanding;

the Good Farmer knows the best fertilizer is
Love,
and that cultivation begins in the
Heart;

the Good Farmer joins
the stability of Wilderness with the fragility of man,
and mimics the forest in their fields
in a communion of beauty and necessity;

the Good Farmer dances
improvising with entropy,
response within the dynamic balance
of order and chaos;the Good Farmer is resilient
to oppression, by saving seed
to dis-ease, by supporting the vitality of the soil
to limitation, by building foundations to reach potential;

the Good Farmer does not work hard,
but works smart,
and enjoys
in the complexity of life's simple processes;

the Good Farmer sleeps well at night,
cradled in the harmony
they have helped to create.