Dear Listeners
Recently I attended a training in Pennsylvania on essential oils. It was texturally robust; the surroundings offered open rolling hills, colors of sunrise and sunset, a late fall palate, the scent of tilled soil, cows and horses, and farm dogs barking in the distance. It was truly relaxing. The oils are a novel experience for me, we shall see where this leads! It seems to offer an additional language to use in the context of health and care. I’ve intentionally separated those words, because when put together they generate a phrase connoting a wholly different meaning. My emphasis hopes to capture the gestalt of it all, the vastness and depth of healing and caring for one’s self. Scent is a curious and powerful sense organ… so much to reveal there. I’m excited to see where this venture leads and am already experiencing enlivened conversations with people regarding issues they struggle with.
Last minute my teacher and I requested to tour the host’s Mennonite farm, which was as rich as our kitchen table “lab.” The mother and father of of eight greeted us warmly and welcomed us into their work spaces to witness how their crops were prepared, carriages repaired and animals raised. They used a few pieces of agricultural machinery, everything else was powered by horses, this lifestyle generated questions they were happy to answer. The peacefulness on this farm was profound.
Unfamiliar with Mennonites yet raised with agricultural relatives, it was a welcome visit to childhood memories of simpler living. Compare this to the anemic track many of us subscribe to with machines and technology governing our institutions or urban ideals… this lifestyle was from a century ago yet just down the road. The horse stable was the best part. The energy was a single note; quiet and calm, almost absent of sound…. Velvety rich, yet simple, pure, paced… I didn’t want to leave. One of the sons gave me a little ride in a carriage with their pony, it was a ride about timing.
The mother was interested in our studies and decided to pop by for a visit after dinner with her eldest daughter. With a gentle curiosity so refreshing in our hardened world, she inquired about our work in medicine and wondered why oils? It was a wonderful question that generated loooong answers. She told stories about a relative who uses oils and her own experiences at home. Her words were full of intention, focus and meaning. She listened with absorption. This is not intended to idealize a woman who is Mennonite, to me this experience was about a surprise interaction with a person from a starkly different background that revealed the finer aspects of humanness. It felt hopeful. I’m sure we could have found our differences if we wanted to…. but that didn't seem the point. It was as if we were being neighborly, a mutual openness to understand one another allowed this exchange to occur.
Why do I share this story? In light of the conflict we sometimes experience amongst each other, consider the positive qualities that remains undiscovered. See if you can slow down a little, just enough to pay notice to others you interact with. A precious exchange can lay hidden even in the shortest two-sentence interaction. Consider this story a small example of how the experience/skill/perspective gained from a contemplative or meditative practice may be applied to daily living, revealing a richness in the mundane.
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