Gardens…
Greeting dear friends & fellow navigators, & welcome to my world this week. There are moments in life when you can feel yourself being shaped, not by the pages of a book, but by the presence of another human being. A friend who sits beside you without rushing your thoughts. A parent whose silence says more than any advice ever could. A stranger who offers kindness without knowing your story. These moments do not come with a title or a chapter number. They slip into you somehow & begin to live there.
Books can teach you how the world works, but people teach you how the world feels. A story on a page may describe joy, yet it is a shared laugh across a table to show you its true weight. A philosophy book can speak of strength, yet it is the hand holding yours during a storm & teaches you what strength feels like. Words printed on paper can point to the truth, but the people around you breathe this truth into your days.
The people closest to you are not just a background in your life. They are the climate in which you grow. They are the weather to surround your every season. If their air is heavy with doubt, your dreams will find it harder to breathe. If their sky is bright with encouragement, you will…
It is easy to place all your focus on your own growth. To build yourself silently. To water your own roots & polish your own leaves. Yet what is the worth of a single tree in a forest where others are withering. A garden flourishes not because one plant thrives but because the soil is rich for all. If the people around you are drained of hope, their shadows will reach you no matter how brightly you try to shine.
This is why it matters to look beyond the edges of your own life. To see the struggles in the eyes of a friend. To notice the person who has not spoken much lately. To offer not just advice but presence. The kind of presence to say without words, “You are not alone in this room. You are not carrying this alone.” These are not small acts. They are big, even if we cannot see it then.
When you invest in the lives of those around you, we create a circle to become stronger than any single person within it. You create a shared reservoir of strength, & do not have to fix every broken thing, or have to carry every heavy load. But you can choose to be a steady light when the path for someone has dimmed. You can choose to keep your heart open even
when it would be easier to close it.
There will always be books to return to. There will always be new lessons waiting on a shelf. But the chapters to change you most will often be written in the voice of someone else, spoken in the warmth of a kitchen, the silence of a car ride, or the stillness of a shared sunset. The most profound knowledge is not always found in the pages you turn, but in the people who stand beside you when you have nothing left to say.
If your life is a garden, then the people around you are its soil, its water, its sun. Tend to them as you tend to yourself. Protect them from the frost when you can. Celebrate their blooming, & when the season turns difficult, remind them no one grows alone. In this shared care, you will find a kind of beauty no single book could ever teach you. Just few observations again dear friends, & provide an opinion in my world. Thank you for stopping by, I appreciate your being here. If my journey encourages you also, all is well with my soul.
Looking forward to next week; this is Kenn Butler in Paradise, Nelson with best wishes.
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