On the Value of Being a Crack-Pot

On the Value of Being a Crack-Pot
Dear Wonder Child Blog Readers,
I was sent this story yesterday from a friend in India.  
I like it a lot and so I am sharing it with you.  
Peace and Light, Peace and Light.
Joseph 
A water-bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on each end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master’s house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pot full of water in his master’s house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.

After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water-bearer one day by the stream. “I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you.” “Why?” asked the bearer. “What are you ashamed of?” “I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master’s house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don’t get full value from your efforts,” the pot said.

The water-bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion he said, “As we return to the master’s house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path.” Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some. But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again it apologized to the bearer for its failure.

The bearer said to the pot, “Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of your path, but not on the other pot’s side? That’s because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you’ve watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master’s table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house.”

Each of us has our own unique flaws. We’re all cracked pots. Don’t be afraid of your flaws. Acknowledge them and go out boldly, knowing that in our weakness we can find strength .


Copyright Joseph Anthony of the Wonder Child Blog



12 Simple Things You Can Do Today to Help Yourself Discover Your Sense of Wonder

12 Simple Things You Can Do Today
to Help Yourself Discover Your Sense of Wonder

Of course, this is an incomplete list.  Wonder is a broad highway, a limitless horizon, an endless ocean.  But try one or two or all of them over the next 12 days, or 12 weeks, or do one a month for the next 12 months (Well, you might want to at least do suggestion number 1 every day. Studies have shown that breathing is very helpful to living). 

Oh, same with 2 and 3.  These are the bare minimum.  

But try them all.  Let them open you into the world

and let the world open into you.

Have fun with all of them.  Expand them and add your own special twists. 

And remember, it’s important that when death finds you, it finds you alive. 

So go.  Go live. 

Live a life full of Wonder.

1). Breathe deeply each breath.  Fill your belly and then exhale slowly.  This clears the mind and calms the body thus awakening your senses to the world around you.

2). Drink plenty of water.  This keeps the works clean and free and lubricates the body in such a way that it’s simply more open to the water of life flowing around and within you.

3). Get plenty of sleep.  Night descends for many reasons, foremost is to nourish the soul through sleep and dreams.  A well-rested you experiences the world with a heart cleansed with dew and starlight.

4). Sing.  Sing without judgment of your own voice.  Make up little tunes.  Hum them.  Enjoy the feeling of humming on your lips and in your chest.  Sing out loud or in whispers and let the music fill you with joy.  Try singing everything you say today in dramatic, operatic fashion, or maybe like a church liturgy.  Whatever, just sing.  If you need to, begin by singing in the shower or the car.  Then branch out and burst into song when you see someone you love.  Sing praises to the Divine and to yourself and those around you.  A heart filled with gratitude sees the world with the eyes of the heart and listens to the world with the ears of the soul and tastes the world with the appetite of desire.

5). Play.  Play with yourself, play with children, play with your family, strangers, co-workers, and pets.  Play with words, rules, and ideas.  Play with your dreams, your beliefs, your religion, your fears, your joys.  Play wherever and whenever possible.  Make time to play every day.

6). Move through the world at all times as if you are dancing, because you are.  The world leans into its daily revolution gracefully, with a heart full of music, and flirts with the sun as she passes.  So dance.  Take everything in suggestion number 5 and replace the word play with dance.

7). Enjoy food.  Really.  Love what you eat, and eat foods that nourish your body and senses.   And every now and then eat a lollipop or cotton candy, or blow really big bubbles with a mouth full of bubble gum.

8). Sit in the grass.  Lay down in the park.  Look at the sky during the day or the night.  Stand in a field of fireflies.  Sleep in a garden.  Make snow angels.  Try and catch falling leaves.  In other words: get outside.  Look at trees, birds, and dirt.  Listen to the sounds of the forest.

9). Say nice things to yourself and others.  Like: “Wow! You are awesome!” “You are amazing.”  “I love how you do that (did that)”.  Etc.

10). Do secret niceties for others.  This quickens the mind and opens the heart.  The soul needs mischief sometimes.  Give it mischief of the random-acts-of-kindness variety.

11). Light a candle during a meal, or when praying or making love.  Lighting a candle changes everything.  Oh, and remember to blow it out when you’re through.  Blowing out a candle changes everything too.

12). Write someone you know a poem.  Can’t write poetry?  So what? Write them a poem anyway.  It can be prose or metered, free verse or a haiku, rhymed or not….Find a sentiment you want to share and simply couch it with really deep or flowery words.  Then stick it in a nice card and then stick that card in a lunch box or a mailbox or under someone’s pillow.

Who says spiritual practice can’t be fun? Wonder is spiritual practice of the highest order.  Have fun.  Let me know how it goes, and please share your own wonder-inducing ideas with us.

Cheers,
Joseph

Copyright Joseph Anthony of the Wonder Child Blog