sweet, fig, strong

"you are what your deepest desire is. as is your desire, so is your intention, as is your intention, so is your will. as is your will, so is your deed. as is your deed, so is your destiny." ~ upanishads

when i was little, you could always find me daydreaming under a tree, or nestled in the notch of its branch. i just couldn't resist the generosity of the earth and the grace of the sky.

i felt safe and i felt loved.

i can trace this loving awareness back to our Greek custom of filotimia and filoxenia - the virtuous action of Love and the extended friendship to strangers. i knew it well - in the way my mom never failed to graciously welcome any unexpected guest, and in the way i was taught to graciously receive the gift as a guest myself.

it was a dance between the duty of hospitality and the deep desire to share our home - generosity & gratitude.

sebastian maniscalco nailed it in his "doorbell" routine! i remember the anticipation, the knock on the door - willingly sharing our entenmann's and sarah lee crumb cake with unexpected company, even though 'little me' would have preferred to eat it on my own! 

so, what gives?

giving away today what we may need or want tomorrow may seem a foolish gesture on the surface of reason during times of war and famine - like those experienced by my parents and grandparents - or like the uncertainty that's gripping our world right now.

i get it! it feels scary and vulnerable! 

on the surface, to 'give' implies that there's some limit or insufficiency, some forfeited certainty.

but, on a subtle and unconscious level, generosity is intentioned not on some condition or morality, but on the creative, interdependent laws of love: the scientific laws of the universe  (cause and effect, attraction, and relativity - motion, memory & frequency); and on the spiritual laws of the divine (generosity, forgiveness and gratitude - intention, emotion & resonance).

this is our cosmic dna!

and, so, we shared because, in giving what we had, we knew that what was received was eternal.

we knew that, in one way or another, the stranger at our door was our brother and our sister - second cousin far removed and friend of theo elia - a fellow patrioti from the village.

mind! body! spirit!
sat! chit! ananda!
father! son! holy spirit!

no matter the dialect, what was whole, holy and healing came together as a nourishing and reliable Source of intel - desire, intention, will and action -  and this, in turn, cultivated the virtues of our noble birth, rooting us in friendship and in harmony. 

ethos! pathos! logos!

this is why i most trusted the deep roots and thick arms of the centuries old fig tree at our familial home in greece. year after year, this tree offered little ol' me (a stranger) a place to rest during the hot, afternoon sun, and invited me to climb into its arms when i was hungry.

i knew the story of its soil - the smell of the farm and the resilience of our simple, mountain home.

and this knowing lead me to trust how the high-pitched buzz of the cicadas mixed with the smell of chamomile and honey announced it was time for siesta; and how the sound of tires on gravel mixed with the aroma of yiayia's spanakopita meant it was time to wake up; and how the sight of ripe, fruit-splattered paint in the courtyard meant it was time to go back home to the states.

and, this is how i came to trust the cycle that destined succulent, sweet figs to my nimble fingers each summer, and how i grew the memory of the sweetest ones nestled near the canopy, remembering how they needed effort and attention.

by the time I was seven, i tucked fig, sweet, strong deep into the 'how I want life to feel' map of my brain,

x marks the spot, with a dot dot dot, and a dash dash dash, and a biiiig question mark!

eager to remind myself of the location of this wisdom lest I forget again.  

what’s your sweet spot?

well, I've done a whole lotta’ forgettin’ since then - i've climbed a lot of trees, had many experiences, played many roles and have been many ‘things’ to many people for many reasons. and, each time i feel the urge of fear - each time something happens that makes me want to eat that crumb cake all on my own - i remember, 'ah! i am no stranger to this tree’!

the sweet spot is here, right now, in the opportunity to be vulnerable - to give what i have - and in the dignity of rising - to receive what i need.

and, it seems that no experience is more pressing - more vital - more loving and generous than the one erupting right now -- this 'right now' sweet, fig, strong that will meet you as succulent figs in the future!

so, what’s your sweet spot? what would you rather keep for yourself and how is it keeping you from this shared moment called home?
 

• What memory is waiting to be reawakened in you?

• How does it remind you of who you really are?

• When you give your attention to it fully, what does life feel like?

dare to challenge the fear that is keeping you from your deepest desire - to share yourself with the world!

dare to climb for the fruit that you desire. 

tart or sweet, the choice is yours.