Found myself in the company of special friends last night and despite a very late night, my friend and I were out standing in his front yard as the morning sun poked its head above the horizon.
I commented on the improvements made to his property of several acres since I had last been down and it was a clear sign of someone moving forward with their lives in such a positive direction. Fields had been cut, trees trimmed, and weeds pulled and the whole place took on a fresh feel, heightened by the arrival of the morning sun as it lit up the blue skies.
Without giving up too many details, suffice to say that a life under clouds had been lifted by the arrival of a special someone in his life and you could feel it, not just in his improved outlook on life, but in the very surroundings in which he played out that life.
Being spring, there were also some very notable new arrivals in the yard … a bottle-brush tree in full bloom and the beginning of a few orchid blooms happening immediately outside the front door.
I took a few shots to share here and I hope you like them.
But there was a deeper thought, in all seriousness, floating around inside my head as I took in the changes that were clearly evident within and without … the whole concept of being reborn.
In nature we see it with the coming and goings of the seasons and we take it for granted to where we would be forgiven for not even thinking about how wondrous the whole event is.
I mean, winter delivers what to all intents and purposes looks like death at the end of each year but spring reclaims the moment and provides the planet with a fresh charge at life again.
So too, do we face death and rebirth. I am not talking about corporal death, but rather the moment when we change from one version of our persona or way of life and suddenly morph into a new version of ourselves.
I think I can see five or six versions of my past self already … to where I can confidently say that I am not the same person as I was “back then”.
And while one or two might be self-motivated-morphings, I believe the vast majority come from external influences. It might be a tragedy, an achievement, or perhaps even a person that arrives that effects the change.
There are moments when rebirth is a painful process and these moments mainly come from some kind of negative catalyst. I suspect most of us have experienced such life-changing moments.
But the ones that I mused about this morning were actually the positive ones. Like the moment someone new comes into your life and reawakens the life within you.
You can be slowly winding down your current phase of life without even realizing it. Mood can be low. Excitement can be minimal. Life is replaced by routine.
And then someone brings you through a reawakening to where you realize that this phase was merely existing and not living.
Similarly it could be that an opportunity of magnitude happens … perhaps a career change, or a new-found passion, or a sudden breakthrough on a heavy issue.
When a magnitudinal (is that even a word?) event happens, we can embrace it and harness the chance it gives us to transform.
Some of us will shy away from change and will allow the opportunity to pass by. But others grab on with both hands and see where it leads them.
There is a life. And there is an existence. And at each crossroad we have an opportunity to choose. And when someone extends their hand to us, helping us through the crossroads, they become the midwife to our rebirth.
We too, if lucky enough, may become the person that enable the rebirth of another. So be keenly aware if that opportunity comes your way.
As Plato said “the greatest privilege of human life is to become the midwife in the awakening of the soul of another person”
OK then …. PUSH!!!
