Dear Friends,
There is a paradise just outside the backdoor of my home. On our property here in Venice, CA, we have 11 fruit trees, which give us fruit almost every month of the year. We have apricots, loquats, kumquats, nectarines, white peaches, figs, guava and a pygmy lemon tree. All the trees are healthy. They have the right soil, lots of water and sun. They are flourishing.
Off to the side, along the fence to the west of the property there are vines and plants and flowers. In and amongst this wonderful flora, there is a small leafy palm tree that is clearly out of place. Its crispy, brown-edged leaves are blanched from too much direct sunlight. The soil that it is planted in is too sandy for the little palm to do well. It does not grow. It does not produce flowers or fruit. It exists. It survives. Each time I pass by, I swear to myself that I am going to replant it properly in a way where it can reach its potential. Months have gone by, but I still haven’t done it.
Yesterday, I walked over to the tree and had a brief conversation with it. “You seem to be hanging in there,” I said. “What could you become if you had better soil, a bit more water and less sun?” There was a long silence. It was just the tree and I.
Almost everyone is living like this tree. Breath is our primary form of nourishment, but we don’t breathe well. Water and food fuel everything we do inside and out, but we generally eat poorly and addictively. On top of it all, we put a lot of stress and toxins into and onto our system without understanding the impact it has on our lives. Our little palm tree is not dying. It simply exists the best that it can given the conditions that it has access to. Like the tree, we also will not die right away, but we are not living fully either.
My little palm tree’s destiny is somewhat in my hands, but OUR destiny, as individuals, is in our hands. We participate in the unfolding of our own reality. Somehow we have missed this. The way we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat directly affects the rest of our lives. If you are struggling with an addiction of any kind, I can almost guarantee you that your relationship with breath, water and food is out of alignment and is partially responsible for your addiction. That’s a big statement, but it is true.
When we put down an addiction like sugar, caffeine or smoking or when we step into a yoga class or take a run on the beach or meditate or connect with a dear friend, we feel the benefit. Staying stuck in behaviors that deplete the system and keep us sick prevent us from living healthy, happy and on purpose.
I’m grateful for my little palm tree. It has taught me a lot. I will now replant it and watch it take off into a whole new level of being.
What would it look like if you chose the conditions to live to your fullest expression? What could you become? I encourage you to find out. As the incredible poetess, Mary Oliver, has written, “Are you breathing just a little and calling it a life?”
Sending you Love and Gratitude,
Tommy Rosen