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All relationships need nurturing

It’s easy to think of relationship in terms of people around us. And of course, that’s the first place we find them, beginning from ‘day one’ when as infants, we are held in the arms of our parents. But of course, what happens after that is what counts. Is the relationship nurtured and therefore does it grow?

At grass roots, to nurture means to take care of … something. And speaking of grass, our entire environment can speak volumes in terms of how we might care for the people in our lives. The smallest seeds still need a regular drink of water!

While our connection with plants or objects is somewhat different from our association with people, those influences in our life somehow describe our personal relationships don’t they?

Food, flowers, music, places, the sea … and of course the fragrance of brewing coffee … these and more will evoke memories of occasions and the relationships within those occasions. Think about books we love. No Kindle can take the place of the fading text, the pencilled notations, the turned down corners – or the bookish aroma within the pages as the story unfolds. These and more inner feelings – for there is no better word – bring to life the memory of people important to us in the times those experiences touched our hearts.

Perhaps, though, the relationships and the memories surrounding them were not joyful but filled with conflict and pain. Is there a way we can turn that pain into a positive memory, or even better, can we act to renew and transform the relationship so that its negativity becomes one of positive resolution.

Unfortunately it is often because of objects that personal relationships can be destroyed. Possessions and the material value of possessions can, for some, assume a level of significance sufficiently powerful to fracture even basic friendship.

Possessions can be important. Certainly during the poverty of the Great Depression and the terrible years of WWII, people saved even the smallest piece of string just in case it could not be replaced; whereas these days discarded objects are commonplace.

As demonstrated in the inspiring video below, those objects that seem to be merely rubbish, when nurtured in some way, may fill a vital human need or become part of human growth. In this case, the ingenious creation of instruments has brought to life the art of music from ‘rubbish’ while also bringing life to those who make the music. A truly beautiful outcome.  (Please watch and make sure your speakers are on)

Is there some ‘rubbish’ around us that we might somehow salvage and transform? Can such transformation improve our own life or the lives of those we care about? Can we awaken a spark of hope for those who feel their lives are ‘rubbish’ … the worthless feelings, the depression, the anxiety and fear, the disappointment, disconnection, loneliness and lack of hope?

These and more might well be the outcome of some seeds that have not really been nurtured.
Is today the very day to bring out the watering can?