Cultivating the Soil of Your Own Heart
In the last few weeks, I have lacked inspiration.
A lot of my energy has been spent on getting settled into our new house (this is our fourth house in 4 years, but that’s another blog post), regular family life things, and some creative problem-solving at work. At the end of the day, I've tried to write, and post on Insta or Facebook, but I've been drained and have nothing to give. The thought going through my head on repeat has been "There's nothing I could say that would bring any good to anyone else."
A few weeks ago, my husband invited me to an event in our shared calendar, "Megan's Writing Day." He knew better than I did that I probably needed some time set aside from the whirlwind of daily life to be inspired. I was definitely resistant to the idea and made lots of excuses for why it couldn't happen, but I eventually got out of the house, grabbed an iced coffee at a local coffee shop and just started to write.
I began to reflect again on the idea of Good Soil and what that means. In my reflection, I realized I hadn't done much in recent weeks to cultivate the "soil" of my own heart. Maybe this was why I was feeling so uninspired.
Three Basic Elements of Good Soil
There are so many things that can contribute to creating "good soil" or a rich environment for our hearts, minds, and bodies to grow and flourish. I think we can sum up these things into three basic elements:
Truth
Beauty
Goodness
When these things surround us and allow ourselves to be affected by their transcendent qualities, we can't help but change and grow.
Now I'm surrounded by Truth, Beauty, and Goodness, but I wasn't intentionally cultivating them, or actively aware of their presence around me. You see I think to get the full effect or these "transcendentals" (as they are sometimes referred), you need to immerse yourself in them, and really experience them.
Sometime in the past, I've become really caught up in the past of doing more to make these things more present in my life. In reality, there is Truth, Beauty, and Goodness, embedded in everything around us. The key is to have the eyes to see it and make ourselves disposed to experience them.
How do we dispose ourselves to experience these transcendentals?
We need to make room in our hearts and minds. Put the phone down, open our eyes and look for it
Take time throughout the day and especially at the end of the day, to ask ourselves where have I seen Truth, Beauty, and Goodness
Limit distractions, multi-tasking can prevent us from seeing things that our right in front of us.
Make a list of where you have experienced Truth, Beauty, and Goodness in the Past. The more we are aware of them, the more attuned we are seeing them in our midst.
We notice something that captivates you, stop, contemplate its beauty, seek the truth it is communicating and receive the goodness.
My List
Here’s a list I’m starting, maybe it’ll spark some inspiration for yourself in cultivating the soil of your own heart.
My two toddlers kneeling on the sidewalk to watch a tiny ant. I sat in awe of tinyness of this creature and the wonder in my children’s eyes
Last week after a heated moment with my husband, he texted me, “I love you more than you annoyed me at that moment by the car :)” That is unconditional love.
A friend taking the time to send me a handwritten letter in the mail.
Painting, using my hand to create something beautiful and to put on paper a truth in my heart
Reading and meditating on Scripture, I’m currently captured by John 1:1-18.