Harvest

When I was a young woman, "harvest" defined that inch between my hand and a living fruit to be taken from the vine. It was the payoff. The day of reckoning. All of that hard work...for this.

As a child, I did the dishes every night, cleaned the floors, picked up after and fed the dogs. I did what I was told. There was no joy in the effort. My housekeeping skills were impeccable, but I did not see them as a source of empowerment.

Today, I opened the hen house door, shovel in hand. "Hello, girls," I said. "It's time for the harvest." As I scraped their dried manure from the top of the nesting box, I found myself grateful for every crumb that fell into my wheelbarrow.

What a marvel, to find so much value in the droppings of a bird! Within an hour, the "white gold" found its way into my garden. Though the edible fruit was far from picking, a bed now stood prepared, my work complete.

What is completion, if not a harvest in itself? And every phase of the cycle, when worked with intention and awareness is a moment to pause, celebrate, and reflect. Fruit for the picking.

These opportunities abound in my life, do they not?

As a child, I did not see them. I was told to do my work and found myself a slave, blindfolded to the phases of each cycle I engaged in, polishing only pieces of the concentric rings without witnessing their seamless conjunctions. As an adult, I have found my power, and with it a vision that grants me each day a broader embrace of the infinite harvest in my life.

When I do the dishes, am I not harvesting the opportunity to eat again? The laundry becomes a shelter for my body cold, but poised on production. Unintentional plants in my garden path (some call them weeds) are the harvest for my rabbit's breakfast that I may harvest them the other end within a day or so. All of this nourishment, this connection to the earth, my sustenance and meaning only a reflection of what I can see in the cycle of harvest.

And finally, I bear witness to the notion that harvest is only the presence of mind to find completion in the moment. Harvest is a settling into the phase of Now. This is the gift of acceptance, celebrating what is with a heart open to connection with the All. Every moment we are in choice to find ourselves in power and see completion in the singular phase of the cycle before us. Meaning and grace may be assigned to each and every offering of our day.

If I can see chicken sh*@# this way... well, the possibilities are endless.