Cultivate your own garden, Pangloss!

My wife and I were talking, as a couple is want to do on a night like tonight, about how we as a society/species/life form take things for granted. Miracles are happening every day. One does not need to follow any faith to see them, but they are there. The simple fact that a single sperm and a single egg met to create you or me is proof of that miracle. Whether it was a hand of a higher being, or the perfect coincidence, just that one act is a miracle.

That said, we should all go out and appreciate the miracle of just being. That is a pretty awesome thing. My wife asked how do you let all that in without letting it overcome you. My answer was that I create, and I allow myself to be pretty emotional. It helps. As a designer, I always felt that it was important to allow myself to feel everything, no matter how hard or crippling it was. I couldn’t create if I didn’t have anything to charge that creativity. After all, what is creativity if not channeling an emotion no matter how small. It’s like a garden. An inner garden that surrounds us, grounds us, and brings us balance.

Each of us cultivates our garden in our own way. For instance, there is a bloke here in Indy that goes by the name @BgKahuna (check him out, you’ll be glad you did). He decided to put together an event in downtown that is just a bunch of people giving away hugs. There is nothing salacious about it. BgKahuna and others are just giving out hugs to people who could use them. People who could use a little rain to cultivate their own garden. You may even see me down there for a few minutes dolling out a couple of bear grips.

As with anything positive there are always detractors. There have been a number of people who look down on these kinds of events, but what it comes down to is that their own gardens are withered and dried that they can’t see the value in helping someone tend their garden. These people… they are probably the most in need of an unsolicited hug that I have ever seen. These are people that truly are hurting.

So go out and cultivate your garden. Create your own balance, and don’t be afraid to let all of the miracles overhelm you. You may find that you are the better for it.