The Additive Pattern

Cultivating my Vineyard

The Additive Pattern

Some call it the “dog days of summer;” the sultry part of summer.  These days occur when Sirius, the “Dog Star,” rises at the same time as the sun (July 3 to August 11).  They’re commonly viewed as a period of lethargy, inactivity, or indolence.  I could see why as I was working diligently to cultivate my vineyard. I could feel the burning, unrelenting summer sun doing its best to break my spirit.  But, it wasn’t working.

I looked to my right and saw a Robin just steps away.  It is unusual for this reddish-breasted American Thrush to allow me to be so close.  So, I began to take notice of him as I progressed down the long row of vines.

His wings were extended slightly, his beak was open and panting, and he clung to the shade of the vines.  I’d step and he would step.  He was watching me carefully as well!  He was watching something else too! 

I could see a pattern here.  So could he!

During this time of year my vines cast a span much wider than the wings of any one bird.  In the early spring I prune each vine back to the trunk, just leaving a couple of buds where I want them to burst out and away.  It’s because I know that the grapes will only produce fruit from new growth.  And, now, during the dog days of summer, I’m seeing bushels of fruit hanging down amid the leafy green, new-season’s growth.  The beauty is a breathtaking display of “additive growth.”  It’s an annual pattern and it drives purpose.

When a person understands the additive growth pattern they can begin to appreciate the value it creates and how it’s essentially linked to purpose.  If I didn’t understand it, I wouldn’t be withstanding the sun’s attempts to make me into just one more raisin, dehydrated, yet sweetened by its rays. And, neither would the robin standing just a few steps from me.

I do this dance with robins and other birds every summer.  This one looked liked just any other bird.  But, he wasn’t just any other bird.  He was a scout!

We were both scouting the crop before us.  I was clearing the grass and other water competitors from around the vines while judging the bounty and quality of the coming harvest.  He was judging the bounty, quality and readiness of the harvest.  We were both preparing to race!

I watch.  He watches.  When the grapes are fully ripe he’ll know!  He is often more attentive than I.  When he is, the birds will win our contest and strip every grape from the vines before I can get my hands on them!  Birds have a perfect understanding of the additive growth pattern and purpose!

I’ve learned a lot from my competitors and their relationship with “our,” the birds and my, vines.  They both help me remember that in order to become something more, everyone needs to be trimmed back on a regular basis.  And, by accepting this universal truth, we can become better and stronger, than we were before, as a result.

So, next time you’re feeling as if the sun has won and made you into a raisin, that you’re the dog that has been kicked, or the bones picked over by the birds, remember that it is all just part of an amazing, purpose driving pattern.  Allow the power of this additive pattern to make you into a better, more productive, happier person.

Now, I’ve got to go.  The birds are watching my grapes!

The Pencil Principle

“I like to think of all of the people it takes to make a simple pencil.” – Kyle Christensen

The Pencil Principle

My friend Kyle is a deep thinker and gives me inspiration on a regular basis.  Such was the case as I walked past his office and found him waggling a wooden pencil back and forth between two of his fingers.  He was looking at it carefully and pondering.  Because he was clearly engrossed with such a simple object, I asked him about it.

“Have you ever thought about all of the people and effort it takes to make a pencil?” He said to me.

“No!” I replied.

“It’s an amazing demonstration of how reliant we are on other people!”  He continued.

Graphite was first discovered in the late 1500s in Borrowdale, in Northern England’s Lake District.  Supposedly, a storm blew over some trees and exposed a dull black material that the locals began using to mark their sheep because it made darker marks than lead.  Word of the find spread and soon people discovered they could cut the material and form it into sticks for writing.  Pencil graphite is mined in places such as the United States, Europe, China, Canada and Mexico now.  And, what about the wood that encase this graphite?

By the early 1900s pencil demand caused manufacturers to need more pencil wood.  So, they turned to California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains, where they found Incense Cedar, a species that grew in abundance and made superior pencils. California Incense-cedar soon became the wood of choice pencil makers around the world and to ensure availability, timber companies harvest their crop on a sustained-yield basis.  That means these forests will continue to provide wood as a perch for erasers and pencils for generations to come!

Those little erasers, attached to the end of a pencil, come from synthetic rubber and/or natural rubber from trees.  Rubber Trees are native to rainforests in the Amazon region of South America, including Brazil, Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia, Peru and Bolivia. They’re trees generally found in low-altitude moist forests, wetlands, riparian zones, and forest gaps.

“I love pencils!”  Kyle said.  “They remind me of our need for cooperation and how interconnected our world really is.  Can you imagine a world without cooperation?  Even the simplest items, like this pencil, would become impossible to make!  It takes hundreds or thousands of people working together to make this one, little tool!”

I looked at the pencil in Kyle’s hand with a new reverence, knowing that it was now the embodiment of one of life’s most important principles.  The Pencil Principle reveals that cooperation with other people, societies, groups and nations gives everyone an enhanced and improved life.  Cooperation is necessary if we are to create wonders available only through shared dreams and work.

Share your dreams and expertise with others.  Be inclusive with other people.  Allow them to help make your dreams and abilities larger.  Work with others to bring your dreams into being.  Always remember that you’re part of something special, something much larger than yourself, our shared universe.

Keep a pencil on your desk.  Remember and live the Pencil Principle.

Yet, Here You Are

Thirty extra years of walking

Yet, Here You Are

She was younger than I.  She was smarter too; well, she’s an expert in the treatment of Osteoarthritis.   That was why I was there.  I needed her help.  So I expected to sit and listen to what she was telling me.  I didn’t expect her to say something that would cause my mind to churn and reflect again and again.

“Thirty years ago my orthopedic surgeon told me that if I didn’t stop running I wouldn’t be able to walk by the time I was thirty.”  I told her as she gathered background as part of my examination.

“Yet, her you are!” She replied with bright eyes and a smile.

I stopped and contemplated what she said!  Her words shifted my thoughts from a focus on pain and difficulty to something else.  It wasn’t an instant change for sure.  It was more akin to looking to the eastern sky as the sun starts its ascent.

First, there’s a brightening, a glow rising from a persistent darkness.  Then, a golden semicircle begins to act as the mountain’s halo.  Finally, in a seemingly, almost instant, it explodes into a full shining saucer.  That’s it!

My mind was fully encircled by a peaceful sense of gratitude.  Just because one person pointed out what should have been the obvious to me, I was able to see how lucky I was.  I came in with the belief that I was really struggling.  I left with the knowledge of how grateful I am to still be able to walk.  Now, here is the talk with the walk.

Every one of us will be overwhelmed with feelings of struggle many times during our lives.  The struggles may be mental, physical or financial.  And, we may go to an expert or trusted advisor to give us help or advice along the way.  Even the wise may tell us there is little or no hope on the horizon.  It may even be true.

But, it may not be true.  A lot of what will happen in the future will depend on our attitude, our point of view.  How many people do you know have beaten the odds?  Why shouldn’t you be one of them?  Think about it. 

Think about the simple things you have to be grateful for.  First, there’s a brightening, a glow rising from a persistent darkness.  Then, a golden semicircle begins to act as the mountain’s halo.  Finally, in a seemingly, almost instant, your gratitude will explode into a full shining saucer of joy.

Yes, here I am, still walking!

Life as a Ghost

The “Talker”

Life as a Ghost

There were two people just ahead.  They were talking.  Well, one of them was talking.  The other was patiently listening.  I knew one of the two, the listener.  I had never seen the talker before.

As I passed the two, the talker had his back to me.  The listener, someone I knew well, caught my eye.  During that brief moment I heard the talker telling her how much he had accomplished, how great he was, and what he was going to do.  I looked at my listening friend and lifted my right arm as I opened and closed my hand in a blab, blab, and blab motion.

I talk with my hands a lot.  At least that’s what someone once told me.  Perhaps this proved it?

More importantly, my hand talking caused me to reflect on this incident again and again.  At first I reprimanded myself, “That wasn’t nice!”  Then, I asked, “Why did you choose to respond in that way?”  Finally, I realized I had been going through a process of discovering something of significance, the principle of doing.

We live in a society where the principle of doing as been largely lost.  There are people who are famous for just being famous.  They haven’t added any real value to themselves or their fans.  They’ve done nothing to improve the human condition.  They haven’t served anyone and they haven’t sought a greater purpose.  In reality, they are not great and have not achieved greatness.

True greatness comes from humble beginnings.  It comes from those that follow the path of “be lesser, do more.”  That’s the lesson I learned from the talker on that day.

It was the beginning of my own awakening.  The awakening of understanding that while most simply want to take credit, true success, growth and joy comes only from doing.  This arousal toward reality has caused me to ask myself these three questions.  I wish I could tell you I ask them everyday, but I don’t.  You will most likely do better than I do at that.

What can I do for everyone I meet today?

What can I do that nobody else wants to do?

How can I produce more than anyone else and give the credit away?

Asking these questions on a regular basis has allowed me to begin to change in many ways.  You may be asking yourself, “Will it kill me to let others have all the credit?”

I can assure you it won’t!  You can start at any time.  It doesn’t matter your age or situation.  Let it become natural and permanent to your character.  If you pick this mantle up once you’ll see that the person who clears the path is the one who benefits from it.  Will you benefit from living life as a ghost?