PAUSE – 17.13 – Are You Harvesting Your Life?
Reflection: When I was growing up on the farm, harvest was one of my favorite times of the year.
I loved the fields of golden wheat dancing in the September breeze, the heavy swaths tracing the contours of the land, and the cascades of grain pouring from the auger into the grain bin.
In the farmhouse kitchen, boxes of B.C. pears, plums and peaches were being canned and set aside for the winter ahead.
Steaming cobs of sweet corn landed on the table to be enjoyed day after day after day. My personal best (or worst) was 13 cobs at one sitting!
Harvest time was a feast for the senses and the soul. And the practice of harvesting is one I’ve carried with me into my everyday life.
When I finish reading a book, I take a few moments to pull out an insight or two to carry with me.
When we travel, I keep a journal. As we turn toward home, I reread the record of the journey, and sum up the highlights.
After attending a conference, I scan my notes and pull out a few key ideas on which to act.
Action: The habit of harvest is a helpful one.
- You get to reap the rewards of each experience.
- You anchor and imprint what was important.
- And you punctuate the nonstop flow of life in modern times.
Don’t let the good stuff get away.
Was there was something that you experienced recently that is at risk of fading into the past?
Why not make the time to harvest that handful of moments or insights before they disappear in the frenzy of everyday of life?
Quotes Of The Week: The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest. – William Blake
What we plant in the soil of contemplation, we shall reap in the harvest of action. – Meister Eckhart
The secret of life is to let every segment of it produce its own yield at its own pace. Every period has something new to teach us. The harvest of youth is achievement; the harvest of middle-age is perspective; the harvest of age is wisdom. – Joan Chittister
Resource Of The Week: If you took a vacation this summer, you might be interested in Jason Kotecki’s strategy for harvesting and remembering the highlights in an easy to capture way. PS – Jason’s website, Escape Adulthood, offers ideas for ways that grown ups can lighten up their lives. I enjoy poking around in the archives. You might, too.
Pauseworks Gallery News: I hope you enjoyed my series of paintings of our ten provinces that I released over the summer as my Canada 150 art project. All but two of the paintings have found new homes (Quebec and New Brunswick originals are still available).
Many people have asked if they can purchase prints of one image or another, and so I have posted all ten of the images to a Canada 150 Gallery on my fine art website. You can review them and their accompanying stories online, and also order prints in sizes and finishes that suit you best. Here is the link to the Canada 150 Art Gallery.
Tags: appreciation, attitude, Canada 150, curiosities, excellence, focus, learning, motivation, overload, overwhelm, painting, Pat Katz, Patricia Katz, pause, perspective, presence, Saskatoon, speaker, success, wellness