Patience is the mindfulness focus word for the week, inspired by blueberries and the solar eclipse. When I first moved to Denver, a long time resident told me I could NOT grow blueberries in Colorado. I love blueberries so I ignored that information. I have waited 5 years for blueberries to grow on my tiny plants. Last year we were close, and then the hail destroyed all the berries. But patience and loving attention to plants has paid off and I have my first blueberries! They are delicious.
Patience is a hard thing in the world today. We are so used to instant access, instant information, and instant gratification. In fact I have easy access to organic blueberries at my local grocery store almost year round. But that’s not the same as growing my own.
Patience and the Eclipse
This post is late in the week because I was in Oregon for the solar eclipse on Monday, which provided further inspiration for patience. Shortly after the moon began to cover the sun, one of the 12 year old boys watching with us commented, “I wish there was a fast forward button so we could get to totality.” From start to totality was about 50 minutes, but that felt too long for him to wait.
As amusing as that was, I realize that I have my own impatience with all kinds of events in my life: waiting for a book on hold at the library that I desperately want to read, waiting for the first tomatoes of the season, waiting for seeds to sprout. And there are bigger things, like being patient with the process of grieving and not being focused on an end point. We also have big changes happening at my workplace and I feel impatient to know the end of that “story”.
So this week, the task is about cultivating patience and loving (or at least accepting) the process, rather than needing to know how it all turns out. And the process is what happens in the moment. Practicing patience is a way to practice simply being present.
For more information on my mindfulness focus word experiment click here
More Information on Attempting to Grow Blueberries in Colorado
It’s the semi-arid climate that is the biggest problem. See the links below for details.
