lesson # 3

I first read about semilla besada in a Barbara Kingsolver novel. [For those who haven't read her, do.... she is an amazing writer]. In some gardens one can see a tree that abound with fruit while around it are trees that remain indifferent to the season, all the nurturing and the gardener's plea. It is as though only this tree has found some secret fountain of vigour for its roots to draw from. The Spanish have a name for it. Semilla Besada - the seed that got kissed.

I suppose there is a lesson here as well. For every dozen memories that drag us down and crush our spirits, there is one semilla besada. A memory that will feed, sustain and leave an indelible smile on our souls....Like a burgeoning tamarind tree on a highway, a dusty and stunted frangipani that stands laden with gigantic blossoms, a potted plant on the windowsill of a grim block of flats, it's there if we seek it.

We just need to look for it within us.

lesson # 2

Some years ago, I decided to plant a garden. One of the men helping me said: you can't hurry plants. You are not building concrete boxes. You must let it grow at its own pace.

Many summers and winters later, despite all the nurturing and care, a part of the garden remains patchy. It is as if that part of the lawn would like to teach me patience. A quiet acceptance of how things could go despite our best efforts.

Memories are tricky too. They relinquish us; not vice versa. In response to my previous post, I was advocated forgiveness. I agree. But I also do think forgiving is easier than forgetting. But these are all words.

Can someone tell me a true life experience? I know the world treads carefully around writers. We are scavengers of sorts always seeking material. But what I seek here is to create a forum. To see if there are tips rather than answers. What works. What doesn't. It could be a book, a song, a day with a child, the sight of a kitten playing... tell me.... I am curious....our stories are not ours alone!