But we had the most amazing gift this evening. After another amazing dinner, one that somehow surpassed the previous, we were graced with the presence of a good ole down south botanist/herbalist/field guide/ sing song writer/ story teller. Our night involved Doug telling tales of the ecologically diverse lands of the Carolinas, the history of how herbs came to be named, some folk medicine techniques and beautiful anecdotes that he has acquired throughout his lifetime. I will share one…
A Taoist tale - One day a young man found himself being chased by a tiger. He was running as fast as he could to only realize that he was running in the direction of a cliff – providing him with 2 options: be eaten by the tiger or jump off the cliff. He quickly decided and lept off the cliff, only to find that shortly often his descent, he was able to grab hold of a sturdy vine. He was elated at this miracle and thought that now all he needed to do was slowly work his self down the vine. As he began down, he noticed that at the bottom of the cliff was yet another tiger. He was in a pickle and dangled there pondering his next move. While waiting, he noticed that at the top of the cliff, there were mice slowly eating away at the vine. It began with one mouse, then another came and another – the vine was becoming thinner and thinner. At this moment the man noticed that directly in front of him was the most magnificent, ripe red strawberry that he had ever laid his eyes on. He reached out, grabbed a hold of the strawberry and took a bite, and then another. He had never enjoyed a strawberry quite this much. And that is the end of the story. Moral – this story serves as a representation of how we should live our lives. We are constantly dangling between running from life’s stressors and fearing our known fates but really what we should be focused on is enjoying the strawberries that present themselves along the way.
Hope I got that one right ;)
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