Are the Blackberries Ripe Yet?

This morning after the fog had cleared to reveal a clear blue sky, I walked down to the fence between the Refuge at Pudding Creek and the neighbor’s place to check on the blackberries growing wild there. There are blackberries everywhere but right there the conditions are particularly good as the neighbor waters the sprawling thorny vines and it is a sunny warm spot along the fence line. I know that the berries are ripe when they fall into my outstretched hand leaving purple red stains on fingers. These were not ready, but I pulled some anyway longing for the sweetness of summer. Instead my mouth squeezed and puckered with the cool sour. Waiting for blackberries to ripen can be hard - just like waiting for anything. When can I hug a friend? When can I...? When will things go back to normal? Just like the blackberries that need the right conditions to flourish and ripen, so do I need the right conditions to be able to stay steady during this in-between waiting time that we all find ourselves in. I need regular doses of nature and exercise and mindfulness and talks on the phone with loved ones. If your situation is limited and exercise and phone calls sound like a wild dream, would a mindful breath or a hand on the heart be supportive and better than nothing? I need to hold my own impatience and grief with compassion even as I remember that this situation is testing all of us right now in different ways. I wonder what conditions support you?  

Sometimes when I teach about patience people tell me “I don’t have that.” As if any quality like patience or love or empathy or creativity or humor were fixed and never to be cultivated or grown. When we practice cultivating something - whether it is the blackberry vine with water and sun or patience with courage and compassion - it grows. You don’t have to will yourself into patience like a harsh taskmaster over an infinitely unpleasant task nor do you have to judge yourself as not being a patient person. All that you have to do is create the conditions for the quality to ripen. The blackberry needs sun and space and water and heat.  What do you need for patience to grow in the field of your being? Kindness and empathy? Compassion and mindfulness? What supports you in staying steady when things are not what you prefer? Remember that patience is not always easy and may not feel good, but it can be your friend when life serves up hard circumstances.