IN THE MOMENT

The phrase "being in the moment" has become really popular, and when it comes from the concept of being mindful, it is truly a beautiful thing. There are so many things I would miss in my life right now if I wasn't "in the moment". Like the phenomenal "spanish dancer" I discovered in my swim yesterday. A creature that normally lives in caves and doesn't usually come out during the day, so sightings are rare for me. But there she was in all her splendour: red, yellow,white and orange in fantastic patterns with a huge mantle the entire circumference of her body with ruffles that undulate like the skirt on a flamenco dancer. Gorgeous! Or the huge ancient sea turtle that swam right up to me and just stopped in the water only a foot away and looked right in my eyes. I wonder what I look like to him? I wouldn't want to miss these moments being distracted with other things or other thoughts.

Yet in my garden I have learned that being in the moment needs to be balanced with cause and effect. My favorite thing is harvesting. I LOVE picking my own food!!!! But if all I ever do is pick, very soon there is none left! hmmm. The thing about growing from seed is that it is a lot of waiting. You put these tiny fragile seeds in the ground, cover them, and then wait 2 MONTHS to start eating. And I'm hungry right now! So one actually has to PLAN in order to have a constant supply. It's not just drive to the store whenever you are hungry in any given moment. Cause and effect. If you want to have food in a moment 2 months from now, you have to do something about it now and then wait! Sigh. And then there is the effect I am dealing with from what has been done to the soil before it became my garden. For 100 years this was pineapple land, mono cropped which depletes nutrients, and tons of chemical pesticides dumped into the soil. Less nutrients and more toxins. Yahoo. (At a gardening workshop the speaker said he feels sorry for those poor people who live in Anahola because it has the worst soil on the island! Ah...that would be where I live...thanks buddy) So the soil needs some loving in order to produce. She's not happy with what we have done to her and I'm asking her to give me more! Trying to nurture my one little plot back to health. To undo the damage done in the past. So here I am in this moment, dealing with the past, and planning for the future, in my little garden plot.

This is what I think we are missing right now with all the "being in the moment". People get so focused on something with no thought for cause and effect, of what this moment may mean for someone in the future, or what happened in the past to create the moment. I want to stop for a mocha java right now. What had to happen in order for that coffee to get to the cup? Did people in another country actually get harmed in order for me to have it? And after I drink it and throw it in the trash along with the billion other cups produced for that one day, what happens to all that day after day after day? Do we think about any of that when we are in the moment enjoying the mocha java? And if so, would we make a different choice? One with less damaging consequences? It seems like we have moved so far from actually seeing what our choices create in the world, to a place where the most important thing is momentary pleasure. There must be a way to be in the moment AND be able to see cause and effect so we can have pleasure with no damage done! Did the pineapple people think about others who might come after them and what they were doing to the soil? They just wanted a crop in that moment. Was there a way for them to get the crop they wanted AND not harm the soil for future generations? I would like to say yes. There is a Native American thought that all our actions be considered with the next 7 generations in mind. I love that. (why 7? Don't know.) That is what we are missing now in our take-all-you-can-right-now society. But some are making a shift. Some are making an effort to be in a moment and really LOOK at what the effect might be of a certain choice. The more people that are willing to become aware the more chance we have of helping this earth we all call home. We don't have another one to experiment with if we wipe out this one!

So I return to my garden again and again, learning what I can do right now to have healthier soil in the future, and mend what has been done in the past. Nature is remarkable in her resilience and forgiveness! We have stepped outside of being kind to her, but we have a chance to return into a relationship of mutuality where we are once again a part of her, not separate. The more people on the planet willing to look at the effect they have in any given moment, the more chance we have of living in harmony again. I pray dear readers that all of you are willing. Thanks for listening.