Nourishing Healthy Seeds

"Every time we practice mindful living, we plant healthy seeds and strengthen the healthy seeds already in us. Healthy seeds function similarly to antibodies. When a virus enters our bloodstream, our body reacts and antibodies come and surround it, take care of it, and transform it. This is true with our psychological seeds as well. If we plant wholesome, healing, refreshing seeds, they will take care of the negative seeds, even without our asking them. To succeed, we need to cultivate a good reserve of refreshing seeds." - Peace is Every Step - Thich Nhat Hanh

It is finally feeling like Springtime here in New Hampshire. Today the sun is shinning, the snow is melting and the crocuses are popping out of the ground (at least in one yard that I saw on my run today). Spring automatically brings to my mind the idea of planting seeds. Soon I know I will be in the garden with Martha digging in the gorgeous dirt and planting the peas, first thing to go in the garden up here. My garden time with Martha definitely also counts as planting and nourishing healthy psychological seeds in me.

Reading the above section from the book "Peace is Every Step" by Thich Nhat Hanh, really made me think. It was shortly after my wonderful ski trip with Linda that I read this section. Thich Nhat Hanh goes on to describe how one might use these healthy seeds and call on them in difficult times. He says, "If you have a friend who is very close to you, who understands you, if you know that when you sit close to her, even without saying anything, you will feel better, then you can invite her image up into your consciousness, and the 'two' of you can 'breathe together'. Doing just this may be a big help in difficult moments."

The ski trip was a strange mixture of sadness and hyper-awareness of the moment. My last post was about Zachary. Linda and I learned of Zachary's death the first night of our trip. This brought us much sadness and grief. And it also brought for me a hyper-awareness of how blessed I am and how lucky I was to be on the mountain with Linda. Each ride up the chairlift with my friend was more meaningful. Each run down the mountain was a gift. Each story we shared, and even each quite space was filling me up and helping me to cope with a loss that I didn't understand.

These moments are still helping me. I can call on an image from that trip and use it to nourish me when I am feeling sad, or sorry for myself or stressed-out. I am learning from this to call on past experiences and try to stay more present day to day and to see that any special moment could be a seed I use later to nourish my soul.

I feel lucky that I have a wealth of family and friends around me to help me plant these beautiful, healthy and strong seeds.

What feeds you? What nourishes your soul? What do you call to mind to help you through?