Transformations Revealed

Hearing about the decline of the Monarch Butterflies we decided to plant milkweed in our front yard as a way to support their food source.  It took one or two years for the plants to take hold, but now we have four established plants... and we have monarch caterpillars and butterflies enjoying our labor!

The milkweed plants have beautiful red, yellow, and orange flowers with elongated green leaves.  What I didn't realize is how much the caterpillars would eat!  They DEVOUR the plants down to the stems!

Where do you get nourishment?
(Photo: Monarch Caterpillars - Larry Gardepie)

At times we have had adults and children stopping by and watching the Monarchs flitting about... and then notice the caterpillars crawling all over the plants.  One child asked me the first year, "You don't mind them eating the plants?"

That question stopped me: we also have fruit trees and vegetable plants where I become upset when the insects take over and denude the plants.  Why not the milkweed?  Why am I not upset at the Monarchs? 

How much do you share what you have?
(Photo: Milkweed and Monarch Caterpillars - Larry Gardepie)

I guess my response to the child ("No, I don't mind") depended on context:  the Monarchs need our help to survive and the milkweed was planted for that purpose.  Plus, I had no other use for the milkweed except for being connected to the natural cycle of life.

I was growing the oranges, tomatoes, basil, watercress, arugula, chard, and rosemary, on the other hand, for our dinner table. 

What happens when you are transformed?
(Photo: Milkweed Flowers and Monarch Butterfly - Larry Gardepie)

A child's innocent question invited me to consider when and how I share my abundance.  And... that is where our transformation begins:

• Our ability to ask or listen to a question;
• Our openness to honestly reflect on our experiences; and,
• Our willingness to change.

What transformation or metamorphosis have you experienced lately? 

Larry Gardepie

Dialogue San Diego Consulting

Experiments with Beauty

Visiting my brother and sister-in law's house a few weeks ago, we all marveled at the roses that sparkled with newly-fallen raindrops.  The beauty and fresh scents triggered memories of Dad's roses and the gifts of flowers given on special occasions.

Each of us can describe individual awe-inspiring moments when Nature's beauty is revealed: newborn babies; a peaceful death; grand canyons; rainbows; baby chicks, puppies and kittens...  We are fortunate that so many moments exist!

Our daily lives and burdens stop for that one moment:  we are transformed by the Beauty Surrounding.

When was the last time you were transformed by Beauty?
(Photo: Red Rosebud with Raindrops - Larry Gardepie)

Then, we get on with life... the moment fades away... and we soon relegate that Transformative Moment to memories.

I wonder what would happen if...

• We sought out Beauty;
  
• We clung desperately to that Moment; and,
• We transfigured how we related to the World?

Do you think this Experiment could work?

Which rose is more beautiful?  Must we choose?
(Photo: Orange Rose with Raindrops - Larry Gardepie)

For example: what would happen if we transferred our wonder and awe to someone we loved or cared for?  As we approached them, could we let go of our Critical Mind and only see Beauty?

Or, another experiment:  can we see the Beauty and Worth of someone where there are disagreements or we experience some distance?

I don't know if this can be done or how to do it... but what would our world be like if we saw the Teardrops Sparking in the eyes of every family member, colleague, or estranged person in our life?

As the bud opens, what do we see?
(Photo: Rose with Raindrops - Larry Gardepie)

Our answers may be found in Creation:  the bud opening; the dewdrop being absorbed; new growth sprouting from rich soil.

Each reveals an action of surrender:

• The bud showcasing what is to come.
• The dewdrop nourishing.
• The soil hosting new life.

Would you like to experiment with me this week? 

Larry Gardepie

Dialogue San Diego Consulting

 

 

The Gift of Small

There is something about drawbridges that fascinates me: the various designs to raise and lower sections of a bridge; the duality of allowing land-based and water-based transportation to share the right-of-way; and the simple methods of road barriers and lights to stop traffic and to signal when it is safe to proceed.

I assumed drawbridges allowed larger ships to pass up or down a river or waterway.  Recently, when a drawbridge went up on the intracoastal highway, I scanned up and down the waterway for a large ship... and was surprised to see a small vessel with a tall mast stopping all the traffic!

The focus wasn't on how big the vessel was but on its need to move beyond the barrier.

When do you open up?
(Photo: Drawbridge on Intracoastal Waterway
- Larry Gardepie)

Stepping back, I began to reflect on times in my life when small actions achieved great results:  a smile; offering a seat on the bus to another person; saying hello to a stranger (an "unknown new-friend") as I passed by.

And there were many times when people reached out with a caring hand:

• After graduate school I had a sizable credit card balance and school debt.  A friend offered money -- a no interest loan -- to help me get established.
• A family member listened when I needed support.
• A work colleague showed me how to be a better supervisor.
  

In each case, a seemingly small action opened a Right-of-Way of shared peace and understanding.  It was safe to proceed.

How do you clean up dead growth?
(Photo - Fish Pedicure - Larry Gardepie)

In some ways our world seems backwards to me: we expect big results, large bonuses, and huge successes.  Our financial markets demand record profits to be labeled "Successful."  People with money seek more money.  We have moved away from Seeing Needs to Filling Wants.

Maybe it's the Gift of Small that is more important for us these days:

• Being kind to another person.
• Looking for the positive in others.
• Seeking reconciliation and forgiveness.

It's the beauty of walking humbly that transforms us into grace-filled people who can fly above the desires to be great.

Are you ready to be transformed?
(Photo: Monarch Caterpillar - Larry Gardepie)

In the words of St. Francis of Assisi:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy. 

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love. 

For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Let us pray for the Gift of Small this week -- beginning with a smile and kindness to others.  Amen.

 

Larry Gardepie

Dialogue San Diego Consulting

(click on link for website)

 

 

Who Stole What?

Holiday music and Christmas specials are filling the airwaves, jostling for our attention as we navigate this post-COVID "new normal" world that we live in.  San Diego's Old Globe Theatre is presenting two favorites, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and "Ebeneezer Scrooge's BIG San Diego Christmas Show" -- favorites that draw in children and adults alike.

Memories of Christmas Past bubble up at this time of year:  family and friends, darkness and cold weather, festive lights and inner warmth remind us of what we have... and may no longer have.

What do the holidays mean to you?
(Photo credit:  How the Grinch Stole
Christmas, Dr. Seuss)

The Grinch and Scrooge teach us of the transformation that can happen when we listen and consider:

• Why we remember important moments in our lives;
• The role family, friends and community have in shaping our beliefs; and,
  
• How we want to live and respect other traditions and peoples.

These stories suggest that even the meanest and most cold-hearted can change.

 

Where are we chained to in the Past?
(Photo credit:  Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol)

But even in the midst of this holiday cheer, there may be feelings or struggles that challenge us:  the frenetic energy and busyness of getting everything done; comparing What Was with What Is and wanting more; or missing people who are no longer physically present.  Sometimes an emptiness pierces our well-being, reminding us... that we are human!

Is there a way to pierce the darkness
with Light and Goodness?
(Photo credit:  Rare Cosmic Event
Beamed Light to Earth..., CNN.com)

 What I have been learning at this holy time of year:

• Be Kind... to Self and Others.
• Listen and Consider... that we are all doing our best.
• I -- and We -- have Sacred Worth and Value.

Happy Holidays (Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Boxing Day, Ōmisoka/New Years) as we celebrate Light, Birth, First Fruits, Gifting, and the Sacred in our world!

Larry Gardepie

Dialogue San Diego Consulting

(click on link for website)

Forever Touched

Having grown up in the Salinas-Monterey coastal region of California, our perennial field trip in elementary school was the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary in Pacific Grove.  Gazing up into a forest of trees, all we could see were the gentle brown flapping of "leaves" -- not realizing that we were seeing the underwings of  thousands of butterflies.

We learned about their seasonal migration from Canada-U.S. to Mexico, and how we were connected to these delicate co-inhabitants of this planet.  Monarch butterflies were in our backyards:  they were neighbors traveling through our young lives.

In what ways are you being transformed?
(Photo: Monarch butterfly caterpillar)

It's been disturbing to read about the Monarch's plight these past years:  their numbers have been reduced drastically.  Scientists and researchers are worried about whether they will survive.  To help, we have been encouraged to plant milkweed in our yards - one of their sources of food.  It's not a plant that you want to get attached to!  The Monarch caterpillars devour the milkweed leaves to the point you only have stalks left!  But the leaves come back quickly, waiting for the next round of caterpillars to ravage the plant again!

A delicate cycle with a fragile balance in our partnership with nature.

How can you impact the world?
(Photo: Speckled Wood butterfly, Costa Rica)

I was reminded of this childhood fascination with the Monarchs when traveling in Costa Rica a few years back.  Part of our guided tour was through a rain forest sanctuary for butterflies.  The local people protect the rain forest and have created an eco-business based on sustaining life.  I was impressed at the knowledge and passion our guides had for their neighbors.

I recalled the Butterfly Effect defined in chaos theory: how small changes can lead to large-scale and unpredictable variations across the world.

Are your relationships webs of inclusions?
(Photo: spider web, Costa Rica rain forest)

Dialogue and relationships seem to be endangered in today's divided world.  We are quick to cling to our opinions and conclusions about others.  We label and make decisions based on differences.  We don't always protect an environment that feeds patience and understanding.  We sever ties with our neighbors when we disagree.

Seeing the brown underwings of the Monarchs as a child did not reveal the true beauty of the orange-black neighbors that graced our yards.  Instead, we had to learn the connection between the two, and we had to be willing to plant milkweed to sustain life.

What would happen if we allowed each other room to be transformed, to migrate to new places of understanding?  What action can we take -- no matter how small -- that will affect others?  How can we be forever touched by the beauty of our relationships -- the ups and downs of both sides of the whole?  How can our relationships create webs of inclusion rather than trapping and killing another perspective?

What are ways that we can nourish and sustain our neighbors?

 

Larry Gardepie

Dialogue San Diego Consulting

(click on link for website)

War on Words

A friend and I traveled an hour north this past week -- the farthest we have driven in over a year!  We wanted to explore Old Town Temecula, the Temecula Valley wine country, and March Field Air Museum in Riverside.  Though only a relatively short distance from home, we experienced many differences as we cautiously stepped out into a Reopening World.

One change: encountering insensitivity and rudeness as some people focused only on their own needs to party, play loud music, and disrupt people around them.  Our words and actions did not matter:  we were faced with "Go Boomer" disconnects.

What images come from your words?
(March Field Air Museum, Riverside, California)

Are the Safety Bubbles we created around family and close friends no longer able to expand... no longer able to include others?  Will this be our new reality: a war of words, images, and reactions?

Mind you, this was our first excursion away from our home base.  Maybe we have become too sensitive!

I began wondering, though, about the recent mantra, "Words Matter."  If this is no longer relevant to some people, how do we trust what we see and hear?  How do we engage one another?  In other words:

• How do my words and actions influence others?
• Do I Hold Back, Hold Onto, or Hold Down others?
• Where is inspiration and encouragement?

How do you hold others down?
(Duck Pond, Temecula, California)

As we move outward to embrace a changed world, it seems that we must also face our inward understanding of that world:  the struggle between what we want or need and the hopes and desires of others.

Another change we encountered:  Temecula has placed white flags around a park memorializing community members who have died of COVID.  Names and dates on simple flags fluttered in the afternoon breeze, reminding us of people missing from our lives.  The change?  The wants and needs of others -- internally missed, externally shared -- are silently calling us back to Common Unity.

What words can heal?
(COVID-19 Remembrance, Temecula)

Like butterflies breaking free from the cocoon that encased them, maybe our emergence from our COVID bubbles can be just as transforming.  We are no longer the caterpillars that were earthbound.  Rather, we are called to rise on the breezes that free us... remembering, and moving outward.

Questions to consider as we encounter others in this new world:

• What did they experience this past year?  [Curiosity]
  
• Have they lost someone or something due to COVID?  [Empathy]
  
• How can I go beyond my own wants and needs?  [Connection]
  

May our eyes, ears, minds, and hearts listen and try to understand this new world.  May we seek transformation.  May we become the change we seek.

Larry Gardepie

Dialogue San Diego Consulting

(click on link for website)