“The sun shines not on us but in us.”
― John Muir*
I’d left the yam alone in the kitchen bowl for far too long. Plans to bake or cook or boil it had definitely passed and now it remained ready to be tomorrow’s next garbage addition. Then I noticed the little buds peeping out of it. Tiny little leafy reminders not unlike the famous Monty Python movie quip seemed to shout at me, “I’m not dead yet!” And so it wasn’t. The hearty tuber was very much alive and worthy of being appreciated if not for a delicious meal, certainly a delicious work of natural beauty.
I placed it in a vase, added water and placed it in the sunshine. And in just a matter of days “Oila!” It transformed into this viney wonder spreading its loveliness out and over and above my kitchen sink.
As this is but another of my Nature Teachers, the Lesson was very much learned: that even if we believe we are on empty, and have absolutely nothing left to give or receive there is an indomitable strength of will to thrive and shine. There is alive within us all a voice shouting to be heard, “I’m not dead yet!” It’s that treasure, that goldmine glowing inside our soul wanting us to grow beyond our challenges if we would only take the time to nurture who we are. We’re wired to live even if all looks hopeless and in counterpoint to what we think is so.
I’m reminded of the extraordinary movie, The Impossible. I highly recommend you see it if you haven’t already. It’s the powerfully true story about a family vacationing in Thailand on Christmas morning, 2004. That’s when the most hellish, horrific tsunami you could ever, ever imagine destroyed thousands of innocent souls in a seconds. Maria Alvarez, the real life woman (a doctor) portrayed incredibly by Naomi Watts, recalls the horror of having her three young sons and husband lost in the monstrous waves of destruction and how her will to survive and find them overcame her near death.
We read and hear stories like this every moment. I wonder constantly at the spirit of those who are not only able to rise above the worst situations in the world, but then do so by saving others in endless ways as well–from the Sudan to Aurora, Newtown, all over the globe. How do people survive the unfathomable? I keep watering that sweet yam knowing how much I need the daily reminder of its message of tenacity. We must not give up. Like Otto Frank expressed to me that even if you believe the end of the world would be imminent you still plant a tree (or a yam!) today.
How grateful I am for this lovely veggie, still sprouting and smiling in the sunshine months after I had thought it useless and trash-worthy. It has taught me that no matter what, “I yam what I yam.” Self-acceptance. Not giving up. Hope. Maybe that’s what Shakespeare was saying when he so brilliantly scribed, “To Be or not to Be…”
It’s quite possible he saved a yam too from its imminent death and saw the light…Hmmm. That is the question.
. . . .
* John Muir was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, and early advocate of preservation of wilderness in the United States. His letters, essays, and books telling of his adventures in nature, especially in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, have been read by millions. His activism helped to save the Yosemite Valley, Sequoia National Park and other wilderness areas. The Sierra Club, which he founded, is now one of the most important conservation organizations in the United States. One of the most well-known hiking trails in the U.S., the 211-mile John Muir Trail, was named in his honor. Other places named in his honor are Muir Woods National Monument, Muir Beach, John Muir College, Camp Muir and Muir Glacier.
