Ernest Hemingway once said, "Not everything that appears to be broken needs to be fixed. In fact, some of us are strong at the broken places!" We strive so hard to BE or to APPEAR perfect when, in reality, our human weaknesses and foibles are what allows us to feel compassion and connection to all the souls we encounter. We try so hard to smooth over the cracks that we perceive in our physical and spiritual beings that we fail to consider or realize that it is through the cracks that light, and maybe life-giving water, emanates.
A character( Grandma Rose) whom I encountered in a recent novel used a wonderful analogy to clarify this concept. The farm area in which the story was set was undergoing a rather severe drought and the soil was extremely dry. There were the usual assortment of tins and buckets outside the house. There was a really beautiful painted container that had been a valued gift, and then there were the usual dented and broken pots, most with an assortment of little holes. When the rain finally arrived, Grandma Rose took her two granddaughters out behind the farmhouse and asked them to look at the pots and the area around them. The beautiful container still looked good from a distance but the soil around it was dry and lifeless. Now, the broken and dented pots also looked the same BUT the soil around the was sprouting new life, thanks to the accumulated water that had seeped though the holes! Leave the striving for perfection. It's a waste of time and energy. Look at our cracks and let the light and water through.
As we begin a new year with its regulation resolutions to lose weight, exercise, stop spending foolishly, clean our abodes (and our commodes) with greater diligence, why not resolve to simply Be Kind to ourselves and everyone we encounter on this journey we call Life. Embrace the holes and recognize how truly "holy" they maybe. What do you think?
