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What To Do With The Crap In Your Life

I was out for a walk last weekend along a river near my home, one that passes by a small farm.  Outside one of the barns, I noticed a rather large pile of...well, crap*.  Ok it wasn't aaaall actual crap, but it was definitely a ripe mix of straw 'n such that had been mucked out of the stalls over the winter.  Mmmmm....welcome the fragrant whiffs of spring in farmland.

A big pile of you-know-what

But that pile of crap got me thinking.  

About the piles of crap in our lives.

Broken hearts.  Hurt feelings.  Business projects that flopped.  Failed relationships.  Lost jobs.  Investments that went sour.  Deaths of loved ones.

Even the most charmed life is dappled with darkness and loss from time to time.  Every one of us experiences tough times and hardships.  We all have crap that we have to deal with.  And the more years you live, the higher and higher that pile of crap can become....unless you DO something with it.

We optimists in the crowd tend to look for the light when darkness befalls us, which is proven to be a huge help in lifting us out of the shadows.  But looking for the silver lining around the edge of a dark cloud is only part of the solution for dealing with the crap that life hands us.  If all you're doing is turning a blind eye to the crap, ignoring it in the hopes that it'll magically disappear all on it's own, you're missing one of the biggest gifts in that steaming mound:

The opportunity for rich growth.  The opportunity to evolve.

If we can develop an openness and a willingness to look deep into those crappy experiences and seek out a lesson in them, a magical transformation occurs: we can turn that crap into fertilizer that will nourish and enhance our future growth as human beings.

I'm not necessarily saying that crappy things happen to us in life because 'The Universe needed to teach us a lesson'.  I am suggesting that sometimes, crappy things just happen,and if we want to carry on without carrying bitterness or sorrow the rest of our lives, it is up to us to choose how we're going to view the situation, and to seek out what we might learn from the experience.

It's up to us to transform the crappy experience into the rich fertilizer that will inform our lives for the better, going forward.  

Alchemy** is the basically the philosophical/magical concept of turning something base into something precious; of transmuting something ordinary into something of true merit.  The word 'Dreamsmith' on the other hand conjures up the idea of 'hammering and forging' dreams into reality, as a blacksmith does with metal.  

While there is a place for earnest, active and focused efforts (like 'hammering and forging') when it comes to creating a life you love, this Dreamsmith also holds the space for a more fluid, transmutational, alchemical type of approach when it comes to personal transformation.  Like the kind that happens when you apply a nutrient-rich fertilizer to a bed of newly-planted seeds, and slowly watch things develop as you nurture and care for them with sunlight, water and a bit of love.

So look for the lesson in your hardships.  

hands holding grass

Look for where you can stretch and grow from them, for what you'll do differently next time and for what you can learn and take away from them as you move into a brighter future for yourself.

Be an alchemical Dreamsmith with the crap in your life: turn it into rich fertilizer, and watch your personal transformation begin.

*********

*earlier this week, a former colleague endorsed me on LinkedIn for (among other things), 'clean language'.  It made me chuckle because it's *generally* true, but I've no idea how LinkedIn generates these random 'suggested things to endorse someone for', because I sure didn't request this one.  I hope my prolific use of the word 'crap' in this post doesn't disqualify me from said endorsement, and I hope I haven't offended anyone by using it so liberally.  

**I can't mention the word 'alchemy' without mentioning the book The Alchemist, by Paulo Coehlo.  It's one of my favourite fables of all time: a simple read with a profound message about finding your purpose and living your dreams.  Check it out here.

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©2023 by Kelly Wagner

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