The other day a good friend ( @fairytalelife ) and I were discussing the excitement and frustrations of trading cryptocurrency. It seems that lately my consciousness has been oscillating between elation and impatience instead of being in a state of peace where it should reside. My moods, my hopes, and my dreams were rising and falling with the cryptocurrency charts.
Why? Because life can be difficult and is less than ideal most of the time. Despite what we think we want, at the root of all of our dreams and aspirations there is the desire for freedom. Freedom from the cubicle, freedom from the alarm clock, freedom from the laundry list of frustrations that really don’t want to have to deal with on a day-to-day basis. The situation gets even more desperate as you hit middle age. This is when you begin to realize that time is truly slipping away faster than we ever imagined that it would.
“Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds.” - Marcus Garvey
A few minutes into our conversation a wave of washed over me, WE MUST TEND TO OUR SOULS LIKE A GARDEN. This phrase flew from my keyboard when I was in a total flow state.
During any given moment a hundred irritations sting us like a swarm of hungry mosquitos on a hot summer night. These irritations won’t lessen despite how many zeros we have at the end of our account balances. The important thing is, no matter what, we find a way to maintain proper balance in our lives. In my forty-five years on the planet I’ve found life balance to be the key to true happiness.
The next evening the Universe provided me with yet another lesson to drive the point home. I found a show on PBS that came to me at the perfect time. The show is called, Victorian Slum House. It’s about a group of modern day people who agree to live just as they would’ve in the 1800’s if they were mired in an inescapable cycle of poverty in Victorian London.
What I quickly realized was these people’s lives were so tough that it took all of their time, energy, and wits just to survive from day-to-day. This is all it took to snap things back into the proper perspective for me. This life of mine, it’s not so difficult after all. If we work hard and learn as we go everything happens in the proper time. Until my dreams come to fruition, my main job is to tend to my soul like a garden.
Have a wonderful Mother's Day weekend everyone, enjoy every minute of it! I have some weeding to do.
(Gif sourced from Giphy.com)
*I am an American novelist, poet, traveler, and crypto-enthusiast. If you’ve enjoyed my work please sign up for my author newsletter at my website. Newsletter subscribers will receive exclusive updates and special offers and your information will never be sold or shared.
Eric Vance Walton - Media
I often tell the children and, some older crowds as well who dares to listen, the very same sentence and help them create the parallels in their mind to form a clear picture of this fact. Thus, its helps us all heal as long as the garden is healthy and, more importantly, sustainable in the environment it is growing in...
In terms of environment, one has to be a bit more like a cactus in desert like environments, otherwise one's soul with wither drastically quickly. The opposite is true to highly conducing environment where permeability of one's soul allows them tremendous growth, if their soul is open enough. Other wise, one might feel a bit strangled by their own vision of everyone around growing so quickly and with such vivacity...
Thanks you so very much for you excellent article and open-hearted soul sharing, as always. Keep on smiling and thrive on Eric! All for one and one for all! Namaste :)
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Wonderful @eric-boucher. People need all of the reminders they can get these days! I appreciate your comment, man! Thank you and Namaste!
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Well done with the post, @ericvancewalton. Any way to upvote this twice? ;)
I believe that only when oneself can break away from the noise of life can he/she truly find an environment of tranquility.
I live in front of a busy street so I have zero opportunity for peace and quiet. Maybe in the middle of the night but that's when I feel most sleepy. lol.
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Thank you, Fong!
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Eric, I'm so glad our chat turned into this post. If we don't tend to our own gardens, who will? Thanks for the reminder. Reading your post here was just the thing I needed to get going on my own work today.
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You're welcome and thank you for the support and the friendship. It's very appreciated!
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This hit home for me Eric. There are more and more distractions every day that prod and provoke relentlessly. With new territory (crypto) comes new stress. There's a lot of tilling and weeding to be done around here. It feels like you need a kind of green-thumb-fluency in this world to distinguish between an honest plant and a creeping weed. Again, thank you for being such an honest gardener :)
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I'm so glad it resonated @voronoi! Very excellent point about green-thumb-fluency. That's useful in day to day life in general. Time is precious and to pull those weeds before they get out of control make life a whole lot easier! Thanks for your comment!
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Thank you for sharing those very inspiring thoughts!
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You're welcome! Thanks for reading the post!
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The "mind" (soul) and "body" must be both all right.
We're both, we're free.
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Awesome post, really enjoyed reading this. Thank you! Excellent perspective with the Victorian Slum House comparison. Life is pretty sweet right now.. I'm very happy to be living in this time in history.
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Thank you so much for reading, @judym!
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@ericvancewalton, nice post. we are at war with monero on twitter at the BTCC polls, and everyone need to vote STEEM. Guys open this link and use the link to vote STEEM....STEEM needs us to get to the finals of the BTCC polls on twitter https://steemit.com/steem/@ehiboss/steem-now-in-second-place-at-btcc-polls-we-need-more-votes
RESTEEM to create awareness cos we are losing right about now
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Yeah, I've been focused on trading crypto as well. But then I realize that all my crypto has come from here on Steem, and I still view it as just extra free money. When I realized that the stress went way down.
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That's a good attitude to have, @mctiller. I found myself taking it a bit too seriously just because it's going to play such an integral role in my future. It's all about putting things back into their proper perspective though. I'm glad you're trading! There are so many good opportunities out there now.
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Very nice post and reminder of what is important. When I was a teenager and would be so troubled about the latest "teenage drama" my mother would say, "just remember it's not going to make a bit of difference 100 years from now"! That would get me on to whatever was next.
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Funny some of the things that our mothers or grandmothers may have said to us as a child or teen or twenty ~ Up to our present age ~ That may not have seemed all that note-worthy at the time ~ But begin to ring true, and louder and louder as time passes. 🌹🌀🌹
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That is one wise mother you have! I'm sure that helped to deflate the drama. I remember those teenage years, trivial things seemed so important. Thank you for your comment!
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I think most people on here trade Crypto's in one way or another. I hear you about having the quiet mind problem. You start looking into the tech and see the potential and your mind just takes off. Another stress is having to keep money on the exchanges as some crypto's don't even have wallets to store them in "ripple" for example, or the problem of running 50 wallets on your PC. Hopefully in the future there is a trustless decentralized exchange. I try to keep as much funds off the exchange as possible, but it's hard when you have small amounts over a large number of coins.
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I know what you mean, @grognak! I wonder how many people totally lose track and forget about some of their accounts? A decentralized exchange is a WONDERFUL idea. I use an app for iOS called TabTrader that helps me track coins across multiple exchanges, it helps a lot.
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Wonderful sentiments Eric. We are held hostage by not so much the actual irritations but our reactions to them. And as we tend to our 'Soul' like a Garden, and the weeds become nutrients that enrich the soil, allowing all the plants in our garden to thrive in harmony ~ We also begin to attract less irritants in our day-to-day lives. Giving our dreams the freedom to come true. 🐝🍃🌺🍃🌸🍃🐞
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Beautifully said, @allyinspirit! Thank you!
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Great story!
Thanks for sharing this and Steem on !
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Thank you, @jcsteem! I appreciate you stopping by and commenting!
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Many thanks for this story dear friend @ericvancewalton, I really like the image I legio to represent the subject. Greetings to your loved ones
Have a beautiful weekend..
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Thank you @jlufer! I hope you and yours had a great weekend as well!
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Wow got another follower ;)
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Thanks, @ryarizz! I appreciate the follow...I followed back.
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;)
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That's what we are. Never happy, no matter how much we achieve. The more we have, the more we want. We should acknowledge the good things we have in our life and be happy!!
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Amen, @siddartha!
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Beautifully put to "tend our souls like a garden"! It's a lifelong endeavor and commitment through sickness and health, richer or poorer! Although I know from experience, when I do my tending, there are more dreams, more health and riches.
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Thank you my friend! You are so right, it is a lifelong endeavor...just like weeding a garden. It's been my experience also that when I work on "me" my whole life experience gets better and more positive. The universe is such an amazing and beautiful place once you begin to learn how it works. I hope you had a great Mother's Day weekend!
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Indeed a beautiful and mysterious place! I did have an especially good weekend, thank you and hope you enjoyed yours as well :-)
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We did have a good one, thanks. Spring is finally here!
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This is a very beautiful comparison.
I have gardened for 9 years and there is a lot of intention and proactive measures necessary to get the desired output.
A little research, chatting with fellow gardeners, and daily patience go a long ways.
I will reflect more on the concept of a mind gardener. Thanks, @ericvancewalton .
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You're welcome and thank you for your comment! Gardening brings such peace to your soul. I miss it. My wife and I sold our house a couple years ago but had a perennial and a vegetable garden. We also had about 15 raspberry bushes. About this time of the year I would be doing spring clean up and pruning the raspberries back. There are times I really miss it. We live in a condo now and can only have houseplants but I enjoy the lifestyle change. We have more time for "us" and less responsibility so we can travel and I can write.
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Nice post
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Thank you!
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Eric, thanks for your observations about this. As an old saying I've heard goes, "I resemble those remarks." Your short piece has been a good reminder for me that as much as I struggle with this and that, things overall really aren't too bad, and compared to much of humanity throughout history, actually quite good...
As a believer in Jesus, I look forward to a future of real "rest" in the sense that you've spoken of here... but in the meanwhile, I can at least experience prolonged periods that approximate it. Thanks! :D
😄😇😄
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You're very welcome and thanks @creatr! That show on PBS was a really potent reminder for me about how good we have it. I'm so glad you find peace in your faith!
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You've got it right!
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Amen.
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Could it be that your "flow state" was a rip-off of an old mini-book called, "As A Man Thinketh?" That's the basic gist of the entire book - that you must tend to your own thoughts the same way you care for a garden. Not a new idea. Sorry.
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Hmm, I've never heard of the book @bi5h0p but it sounds interesting! That's a pretty big accusation to make about someone you don't know.
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Isn't it, Eric? Sometimes it's easier to criticize than create thoughtful posts. @bi5h0p, be mindful of your accusations here.
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The only way to freedom is through Jesus Christ. The soul will be taken care of through Him.
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