Before continuing the story, I best explain the plant analogy I am using as I compose these latest blog posts. Prior to my work on the farm, in addition to not being able to identify 90% of the crops we grew there, I had no real experience with the different stages of growing food. My first two months of work provided ample opportunity to be in awe of how disconnected I had become. This was a basic need…our food…our primary fuel to live. This was a big deal…a very big deal.
Learning the stages of the crops was only the beginning. I know at a later time I will write further about my extraordinary 2-year farm adventure. For now, however, I hope the following allows for a better understanding of the analogy I am using between my idea(s) & growing food. Below is the general life cycle of crops I learned while employed at Bill’s farm.
1) Seeding the crops in flats – Seeds for dozens of plants are kept in a refrigerator in the temperature-controlled seed shed. We fill the 72- and 128-cell flats with soil & then, each cell with a seed. These flats remain stacked high in the seed shed for anywhere from 2-5 days. It is during this time that the seeds begin to sprout.
2) Moving the flats out into the nursery – Here the newly-sprouted plants continue to grow under a shade cloth. We also ‘thin’ at this stage. Some of the seeds are extremely small, so it is common for folks to drop more than one inside of the cells of the flats. We only want one final, healthy plant to put into the ground, so thinning entails picking out all but one baby plant from each of the cells.
3) Planting the starter plants – Once the plants reach a certain size, they are ready to be put into the ground out in the fields.
4) Watering & weeding – The primary caring tasks of the plants once in the ground, allowing them to grow until they are ready for harvest.
5) Harvesting – Each crop is harvested differently. Some require knife use, others you pull directly from the ground, and still others, like kale, you simply break off from the larger plant. (By far, harvesting was my favorite task on the farm.)
6) Consuming the crops – I do not believe it an exaggeration to make the claim that the food grown on Bill’s farm is some of the healthiest, most potent, organically-grown food in the country. The food grown is an extension of Bill’s energy. Bill is the only one who determines the movement of his crops from stage to stage. He is the only one that waters them. He is the only one 100% connected to each & every one of his plants. And he is the real deal. This man has taught me more about living your truth than anyone else thus far in my life. I very much believe the fact that his entire world has been an honest pursuit of what his heart called him to do contributes greatly to the amazing food grown in his fields.
Bill heeded his calling to the best of his abilities. He continues to do so every day, without apology or explanation. He has affected the lives of thousands of people via his example. Many may wonder how or why I ended up back in FL to launch this dream of mine. At the top of list of reasons lies Bill & his farm. I owe my entire life shift to the energy of this city, of his example, and to that of all my Sarasota friends who dramatically influenced my life during the two short years I “lived” here the first time around. Utilizing a plant analogy to tell the story – something of the Earth – something to represent my return to the barest of Truths – is most certainly appropriate.
Now, we return to the story. We left off as my huge ideas of today were beginning to sprout.
I haven’t thought of the details of the night described in my previous blog post in well over a year. I believed that night (due to the Until Today reading to which I was led) and still to this day that the ‘Holy Spirit’ was in the room with me. No doubt about it at all. This is the first time, though, that I am asking myself what I believe the Holy Spirit to be.
That night, I wasn’t labeling anything. Attempting to label “It” is what has us all so confused and lost. If I’ve learned only one thing these past 3 years, it is that you absolutely cannot label this knowing…this greater-than-us energetic entity. There are no words to describe “It”. To quote Eckhart Tolle, “…words are just the pointers”. This cannot be fully described with any amount of words. You must feel this. You must experience this. This transcends the thinking capacity of our minds. “It” is not meant to be described. “It” is meant to be lived. Before I could begin living “It”, however, I had to experience “It”.
That night, I was acting at some sort of instinctual level. Nothing I was feeling was familiar or previously known. This was unlike anything I had ever felt before. With no frame of reference, I was left with only the option of ‘being’ with the moment. Completely in the present moment. On April 3rd & 4th, I experienced my present moment(s) for a longer period of time & more completely than all of my combined present-moment experiences from the previous 30 years of living.
I had spent very little time in my present since 6 years old. I was either burdened by my past or worried about my future. If things were good, my past belief patterns & habits had me convinced it could never last. Rather than enjoy the moment for however long it lasted, I just focused on the belief that it was going to end and probably sooner rather than later. If things were bad, that was expected. It wouldn’t be until 2011 that I realized & understood how I further influenced the continued drama of my life by creating a self-fulfilling prophecy of “bad” with these negative expectations. What you focus on is what you create for your reality. No exceptions.
The greater awareness you have of this universal fact, the more you pay attention to your conscious thoughts. My level of awareness shifted dramatically on this night. Specifically, I was awakened to the power of the present moment. The intense nature of the experience forced me to focus (quite easily) on being 100% present in the moment for the first time since being a young kid. The new emotions that resulted overcame me. What do I think it was that I was experiencing? As I reflect on all my life has become in the past 3 years…I believe it was love. Complete, unconditional love from something way beyond my little reality. Overwhelming, non-judgmental, unconditional love surrounding me for the first time and for the first time…me allowing it in. Allowing ALL of it!
Next…The Sun Continues to Shine (as it pertains to my story)
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