by Shelly Sharon, Canova Creative
I
moved to Italy 5 months ago, where I live with my partner up in the
mountains in a very small village, where nature is still wild and there
are still a few of the old generation who live a simple life and
appreciate natural living.
I
chose to come and live here as my husband and I had a vision to
establish a practice centre, for people to share, learn, and create
connections. As we all know, uprooting one's existence is no easy
process for a human being.
As a 'foreigner' there's always the fear of
being left out, of not finding the fertile ground to reroot again. You
become sensitive to the environment, the external and internal
conditions, in a way which doesn't necessarily happen in your home town.
One
afternoon we travelled to the closest city to get some shopping and
noticed a market in the centre of town, so we approached to have a look.
The first stand sold white radishes and a few other vegetables, and
they all had a bit of an unusual shape. I immediately realised that this
market was run by local people selling their natural products. I was
struck by the suddenness of the realisation of what I was seeing,
because never before had I seen a market selling natural vegetables and
fruit.
I
was overwhelmed by a wave of joy, I was so excited and intrigued and
interested. I felt like something inside me had suddenly switched itself
on and was reacting to a much deeper sense inside me. As if my inner
soil had finally been watered to its fullest satisfaction.
I
realised also how normal it made me feel as a human being to see and
buy vegetables and fruit which had not gone through the whole cosmetic
rigmarole, that process of 'normalisation' which leaves us all stripped
of our truest characteristics as human beings, copy cuts of the latest
fashion. Being able to buy something which maintains its natural shape
and vitality made me feel that I belonged. A simple sense of belonging
which we are all looking for. Unfortunately nowadays most are looking
for it in the wrong places.
The
mainstream of what is considered beautiful has robbed us humans of the
sensitivity to react and interact with natural beauty. Funnily enough,
we need celebrities to raise public awareness to the need to embrace
healthy styles of living, to cultivate mindfulness practices in order to
bring us some peace of mind, and learn to dig into ancient wisdom to
find a recipe for genuine happiness. The irony is that as much as it may
be useful for marketing, it is still not carrying the essential message
of diversity - you are still just following another fashion.
Because
diversity lies in all things natural. In the fact that we have over
80,000 different kinds of species on the planet, in the ability to see,
feel and taste things just as they are without being filtered through
layers and layers of marketing filters like in the supermarkets.
All
things conceived and born give rise to a miracle, that upsurge of
creation you cannot control which brings along with it the unknown and
the beauty of living. This miracle is what gives rise to diversity. Even
though we cannot control the next step, since it pertains to the
unknown, nonetheless it is full of the juice of life, sparkling with
nutrients and vitality. It is only as we are judged upon our beauty, how
fast or slow we regain our "normal" shape after giving birth, how fit
we look with the latest fashions, that we ourselves become that ugly
fruit.
When we reject the ugly fruit we reject everything which we haven’t accepted within ourselves. It is a powerful mirror.
As
a teacher of consciousness and a long-term practitioner of yogic and
energy practices, I have met a lot of people over the years, and a lot
of the personal baggage of "the ugly fruit" they carry with them. One of
the most simple exercises I give people is to wake up in the morning
look in the mirror and say to yourself 'I am beautiful'. Do you know how
hard it is for people to do that? Yes, indeed.
We
don't exercise our freedom of choice, our will power and ability for
unique self-expression if we go blindly to the shop, filling our baskets
with machine-like movements, automatic gestures coming out of our
ego-building inner state.
The
rough division between ugly and beautiful is relevant for the one who
has not experienced and embraced the natural diversity. The diversity of
people, of opinions, of flowers and tress, the diversity of life. This
is a source of suffering.
Well, I
choose to indulge in the "ugly" fruits, and to celebrate my feeling of
belonging to this planet, to enjoy the sense of true and simple joy.
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