The Bigger Picture

Carl Jung said:  "But if you have nothing at all to create, then perhaps you create yourself."  Each day that we live becomes a part of the bigger picture of us.  What you do on a certain day may not stand out as something that is shaping your future, but it's a lot like building blocks.  Each block is only a certain size, but when stacked together, they create something altogether different.  And so it is with our lives. 

Many things shape us in our growing up years.  Think back on yours.  Do you have something that stands out?  For me, now that I'm older, I have come to realize that the music my parents listened to helped shape me. They were country music fans, and the words to a country music song can really speak to a person.  I may have been raised in church where we learned that we should marry someone for the rest of our lives.  But Tammy Wynette sang "Stand by Your Man".  That said it all!   Lyrics to country songs shaped me.  I sang along with them all, and those words wove their way into the fabric of my life.  

I can remember a vacation, we were driving from California to Minnesota in a 1963 Rambler, with no AC, and it was a very warm summer.  We were cruising through a town, all the windows were down, and we were singing along "We'll sing in the sunshine, we'll laugh every day, we'll sing in the sunshine, then I'll be on my way."   I can remember that I was wearing shorts, and my bright red Keds. 

In my 20s, there were other events that shaped me.  Having a car, a job and having babies changed my focus, but it still created a part of who I am today.  My kids are grown and I'm still as fierce as a mama bear when it comes to their well being! 

Make sure that you're aware of what you do on a daily basis, and know that it will have impact later in your life, in some way, whether it's big or small.  When we follow our authentic path with love, embracing our creative impulses, we live truth even if what we think we're doing is "just" planting a flower bed, cooking a meal, editing a book, sewing a curtain, painting a picture.   As the Vietnamese Buddhist monk, poet, and writer Thich Nhat Hanh reminds us "Our own life is the instrument with which we experiment with truth."