What Matters Most.........Commentary by Jim High
My family had a series of dogs as I was growing up. My favorite was our little Chihuahua. He/She, I can’t remember, use to lie on top of my stomach while I lay on the floor on my back. “Frisky”, our Boston Terrier, was run over by a train. Fortunately I didn’t witness this event, but it was a traumatic time in our family, never the less.
What’s my point? Most everyone has had a pet sometime in their lives and understands the connection you have with them. And be it a dog or cat, a bird in its cage, or even fish in a beautiful aquarium, you feel in some way attached. Everyone talks to their pets, and most will say that in one way or another they talk back. It’s a wonderful feeling, and also a huge responsibly, because your pet needs you and depends on you.
But have you ever talked to other animals? Communicated with them in some way? I have and do all the time. Once while reading a book and sunning myself at my lake cabin, a small yellow butterfly was buzzing around my head. I waved it off over and over again, tried to catch it in my fist, but it seemed to be winning this battle. Then I had a flash of insight. I held out my finger and mentally invited the butterfly to land there. In a few short moments it did. I then slowly turned my hand until we were looking eye to eye. And using a soft voice I told my butterfly friend that it should leave me to my book and the sun’s rays, because it risked death should one of my swats reach its target. I said we both had a right to our peaceful enjoyment of the afternoon. Then I gently shook my finger and it flew away and bothered me no more.
Now you can think I’m crazy or you can begin to try it yourself. Just remember that not even people who hear and understand our words always do what we want. But talking is always better that killing, and talking always brings understanding, if not action.
I think I get my love of house plants and gardens from both of my Grandmothers. The one I grew up with worked every day in her outdoor garden, and the one we went to visit every month had a house full of plants. This is where I learned that the best fertilizer for a plant is love and recognition.
Yes, I talk to the plants in my apartment and outdoors. They respond in the most wonderful of ways. They bloom and grow and thrive. I use to have some large elephant ears growing just outside my garage, and every morning when I left for work I would roll down the window, reach out and touch the nearest leaf to say goodbye, and whatever else came to mind. It’s kind of amazing what you will find yourself saying to a plant. And in the evening I’d stop to say hello and ask if its day had been as good as mine. That leaf grew to be twice as big as all the other elephant ear leaves and lasted the whole season. I really missed it when the winter weather finally killed it. Obviously, I still remember it, and that yellow butterfly.
What Matters Most is the understanding that everything in this world of ours is connected to everything else. Everything has its place and its life to live. Everything is important. When this realization becomes a part of who you are deep inside, your relation to the whole world and every living thing takes on a deeper meaning which enriches you life.
© 2008 #11 Jim High can be reached at P. O. Box 467, Tupelo, MS 38802-0467
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