cultivated adj. meaning refined (free from impurities), educated (based on some knowledge of fact).
What does it mean to live a life cultivated?
It is so easy to jump into a new year with a long list of things to accomplish. Sadly high expectations and all the gumption to reach your goals is NOT always easy or doable.
I believe one of the first key ingredients you need is an awareness of where you are at in life. Last year I began the year reading Cultivate: A Grace-Filled Guide to Living an Intentional Life by Lara Casey and I knew deep down in my heart that was NOT where I or my life was at in its current state. So, instead of implementing all I learned I stepped back and embraced of season of being present to myself.
My ONLY goal last year was to read fifty-two books and looking back I can now see last year was a year of planting seeds, resting and giving way to a season of refining.
Freedom from impurities can come at any time but, for me it came in the early days of this month.
You have a unique assignment here on this earth, and your pain, grief, and challenges might be the very things that open your heart to be able to live out that assignment. A seed doesn’t burst through the earth and decide to hop to another spot because it looks better, easier, or more comfortable in someone else’s garden. It grows right in the dirt where it has been planted.”
Lara Casey, Cultivate: A Grace-Filled Guide to Growing an Intentional Life
The dirt has to have the right nourishment in order for the seed to sprout bringing new life. For years I tried to grow grass in my backyard but, it was not until I spent time tending to the dirt that anything could grow. I needed to soften the dirt and give it time to loosen before it could provide a healthy place for the grass to sprout and grow.
Last year was a year of tending to the dirt. I was stuck in the dirt trying to grow through the pain of healing but, healing is not a destination. Healing is an ongoing process. I will have to cultivate healing for the rest of my life.
I am learning the best way to do this is to cultivate a life of creativity. Even when life is busy I MUST sneak off and grab a few moments a day to be creative. This could be writing three pages a morning or stopping at the beach to take pictures on my way home from work. Creativity feeds my soul and grounds me to where I am at in life. Instead of striving for better I am breathing in the moment via creativity.
These stolen moments fuel me and motivate me to steal even more moments to be creative. It’s much like an illicit affair in the midst of a busy life. I am addicted to the feeling creativity gives me so, instead of saying I am lacking in time to write, paint or create I steal away a few moments in the margins of life to create.
If we wait to have more time to pray, meditate, write, cook, workout or create we will NEVER do any of those things instead we will become a slave to the mundane of our lives.
Stealing moments to do these things can be hard (and by those things I mean whatever it is that makes you feel alive and joyous). This past week I choose to write, workout, meditate and make breakfast before work which meant my hair was in a bun a few too many times because I choose the things that fuel me instead of looking perfectly put together.
What do you need to sacrifice in order to fuel your soul?
What thing is calling your name?
What are you putting off until you have more time?
STOP!
START sneaking in moments of your day to cultivate the life you were created to live.
STOP waiting for tomorrow… because tomorrow may never come.
Yesterday I had to go to work and I was so, excited when I was able to leave work earlier than I expected. As I began driving home to hang out with my family I decided to head to the beach first to steal away a few moments to take in the ocean breeze and snap some pictures. Those few moments I stole away fueled me through the rest of my day of running around getting things done.
It is easy to put off pulling over and stealing those moments for yourself thinking after you accomplish your to do list you will have time but, I believe stealing those moments in the moment will actually fuel you through the mundane tasks of life.
Take time to cultivate the life you really want NOW.
Steal away moments to fuel what sparks your interest and feeds your passion.
Stop treating your creativity like it’s a tired, old, unhappy marriage (a grind, a drag) and start regarding it with the fresh eyes of a passionate lover. Even if you only have fifteen minutes a day in a stairwell alone with your creativity, take it. Go hide in that stairwell and make out with your creativity. Sneak off and have an affair with your most creative self.
Elizabeth Gilbert, BIG MAGIC: Creative Living Beyond Fear
When we begin sneaking away to cultivate our passion we will begin to settle into the dirt of our lives and grow where we were planted instead of wishing, hoping and praying our seed was in someone else’s garden.
Steal away a few moments today to begin to cultivate the life of your dreams!
