"On Children" - Kahlil Gibran

"Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
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You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable."

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In the morning, I sit outside and throw the shells of my pistachios upon the earth to decompose.  I scatter wild seeds for the birds that frequent my back yard, the state park that juts up against my property, within the hills of Topanga. 

I consciously scatter the seeds far and wide, covering a large area to ensure that each bird can feed without the feeling of scarcity.  And, while I sit at the window and drink my morning tea, excited to watch the unfolding of all the birds who will readily descend upon the ground to peck away with abundance, I notice that...

Many of them unwittingly gravitate to the 'fool's gold;' the empty shells dotted here and there.  They upturn the shells, movi

​ng from one to the next, in the hopes of churning up treasure.

Even the small birds who find the courage to brave the domineering Blue Jays instinctively go for the shells, but soon learn that they are empty.

Aside from a few small birds who peck away at the small seeds amongst the ruckus, none of them seem to notice that the seeds are vast; they all gravitate to where the action is taking place... where the Blue Jays, the playground bullies, are chasing one another off and creating a sense of scarcity amongst themselves.  They have single handedly accomplished a feeding frenzy and the idea of scarcity all by themselves.

The first things that come to mind are “survival of the fittest;” “animal/human nature,” and that greed and ownership is seemingly so blueprinted within us that even from a young age, we steadfastly cling to things, with white knuckles, while declaring, "MINE!"
 
What also comes to mind is that sometimes crumbs will do; like little steps, one foot in front of the other, taking the crumbs will amount to a satisfying meal.  And, as my mom would sometimes say, “Slow and steady wins the race.”

When the world is aggressively fighting over nuggets while simultaneously going hungry, you can pick at the crumbs and still get your fill.  It's not to say that one should refrain from seeking out delicious doses of yumminess within the world, but I think it's fair to say that those portions of yumminess will inevitably reveal themselves along the way.

And, when the rains come again, all those neglected or looked over seeds will be sprouting and the earth will adorn a beautiful layer of green: evidence of the ripple of life and planting seeds.
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