Since my word of the year is “vitality,” every Sunday I hope to share something with you all that makes me feel vital, sparkly, happy, and alive from different aspects of my life. It isn’t about having a perfect life. It is about growing in wholeness and authenticity and living in joy, no matter what crosses our paths.
My little seven year old woke up one Saturday with an urge to start seeds in a paper egg carton. Still in his pajamas, I helped him plant cosmos, evening primrose, several kinds of four o-clock’s and evening stock. He said he was happy to see things grow because he loves nature so much. When his seeds started sprouting, he declared that his new little plants were cute. What is better than seeing new life sprout and grow?
I thought about how that is so much like how we are as human beings. We can only be who we are: imperfect. We make mistakes and can only move forward. We can do the best we can with the knowledge and experiences we have at this moment, and we may change our minds later with different knowledge and more experience. We cannot please everyone, and nor should we. I will never feel exactly the same way on every issue, every facet of parenting and every facet of life that someone else will. This is what makes us unique and our perspective valuable and is yet so often treated as an unfortunate or misguided thing. And instead of seeing this as the possibility for growth, it becomes an area of polarization.
We live in a society that is becoming increasingly prone to difficulties in finding any common ground. We live in a society where on Facebook or other social media we can pick apart any opinion, event, or happening and pare it down to the worst part about it, whether this worst part was true or imagined. We live in a society where it is increasingly becoming safe to only be with others who think, parent, or live as we do.
Yet, studies show diversity makes us smarter. This week, I hope to plants seeds of kindness and love by listening to others who are different than I am; people who have had different experiences and who hold different knowledge. I hope to get to know someone whom I don’t know very well, or to further learn about something I don’t know about.
May this week bring you seeds of love and kindness and may you plant some of your own.
Blessings and love,
Carrie
The Parenting Passageway 
Thank you Carrie, that’s beautiful.
Blessings, Victoria
Well said Carrie!! I will try and join you with planting those seeds too.
Such a beautiful, inspiring and timely post, Carrie! Thank you. It encourages me to hear your perspective as I see so many friends turning against one another, embittered by differences rather than viewing them an an opportunity for growth. I’m reading “The Book of Joy” right now and finding the wisdom of the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Tutu so inspiring and uplifting. Your post brought a small passage to mind. (Perhaps you’ve already read the book, but I thought I would share anyway.) It was on one of the rare occasions when the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Tutu disagreed on a point and the Dalai Lama came back with a quick little joke and a smile. The interviewer says, “And then I saw him do what each of them did throughout the dialogues when they would come to a point of disagreement: reaffirm the relationship and compliment the other.” I thought that was such a lovely idea; to go into a disagreement remembering what you value in the other person.
Kate,
I so love that book.
Thank you for chiming in; I appreciate your comment.
Love,
Carrie
Love this! Thank you for sharing and thank you, Carrie, for your writings.