He touches. He kisses. He hugs. He laughs. Most importantly, he asks questions. He inquires into people’s lives. This is the essence of teaching, of learning, of wisdom, of spirituality. He calls it “the culture of positivity.” I call it sowing seeds, the kind we need to grow and cultivate. Before you read any further, watch this 2.5 minute video.
Look at what this young man plants. Look at how he plants. He cast the hopes and visions that he held within his own life out into an unknown field. To pursue his passion.
He asked people questions about themselves–not rude, intrusive questions, but the questions that are the heart of the spiritual life. What do you love? What do you hate? Tell me about your clothes. What’s the most important thing that’s going on in your life right now? Not only did he ask, but watch how he LISTENS. The listening is as much a sowing of the culture of positivity as anything he does.
In the gentlest of ways, he touches souls that need to be touched. He kisses cheeks that perhaps have not been kissed in a long time. He hugs lonely shoulders. These are all seeds sown of the culture of positivity.
You can hear it in his voice, can’t you? Even if I could not make out his words, I can hear the tone of his voice tinged with those same seeds, sowing the culture of positivity.
What simple thing can you do today to help sow some of these seeds? Maybe, while at the grocery store, you can choose to smile at every person who looks at you. Or, something else. Buddhist teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, reminds us that the seeds we water and cultivate create what we get in life. We can water and cultivate seeds of positivity or negativity. What will it be today?
Bob Patrick
Thanks for this, Bob. It brought tears.
Roy