Compost  Happens

Karen Price

Transformation occurs when something of lesser value becomes something of greater value.  Value is a characteristic we certainly care about.  We value good looks and an education.  We value a distinctive home with curb appeal and we value a vehicle with good gas mileage.  Some parents value time away from their children, but others value time with their children.

To be certain, we all have differing sets of values.  In many circumstances, those dissimilar or contradictory values can give voice to delightful differences.

Somewhere along the way, I discovered that I had come to value garbage – vegetable and fruit scraps, eggshells and coffee grounds.  I was eager to use grass clippings and brown leaves fallen from our trees.  Even the droppings from my llamas, goats and chicken came to be a valuable commodity for my purposes.

When the above items are mixed together in appropriate quantities along with sunshine and moisture, it results in pure gardening gold.  The final product is compost that can be mixed in garden soil to provide natural fertilizer.  We didn’t really discover this process, because nature has always worked in this manner, but gardeners have the opportunity to take items of little or no value and cause them to be properties of healthful growth.

If even garbage and animal feces can be used for a valuable outcome, this  brings one to the point of wondering what else might be transformed into the stuff of growth and value.  What possibilities have we missed?

Certainly our own lives and those around us may give pause to this pondering.  At each stage and chapter of life we evolve, renew, and transform.  Perhaps the worst possible moments of life can be piled in a heap of emotional compost.  As that pile of human trials settles together, it creates inner warmth.  As it basks in the warmth of the divine, a transformation begins to take place.  As the tears of the moment bring moisture to our troubles, there is a quenching of the spirit.

If, and only if, we allow our heartaches and failures to teach us, they transform us and serve as the irritating piece of sand within the oyster, creating a pearl – a treasure, something beautiful from something ugly.

A woman came to my home to pray as she walked our outdoor labyrinth.  We greeted one another with a warm embrace and she told me of the difficult times she was experiencing.  I listened and with the arms of my heart I held her fragile soul close to me.  As we arrived at the entrance to the labyrinth, I was embarrassed beyond all words.  There, at the entrance to this peaceful place was a huge pile of dog excrement from the neighbor’s canine -  of all places to make a deposit.  I apologized profusely and said that I would clean it up immediately so that it would not be a distraction to her time of holy quiet. 

She laughed and insisted that I not move the mess.  “I need it there,” she said.  Confused, I looked at her, my face reflecting a question.  “It speaks to me of all that I want to leave here today,” she said.  I nodded in understanding.

The pile was removed later, because not everyone would regard it as a desirable gift.  But I was reminded that just about anything can be used for good to those who pay attention and look for everyday messages.

To compost is to bring the garbage of our home or of our souls and allow it to be used for a creative, nourishing outcome.

Karen Price, writer, spiritualist, herbalist and animal lover, makes her home is Davisburg with husband, David, and her children, Arden and Nicholas.  There she delights in making a welcome home for her family, pets and any visitors who come along.  Karen can be reached at kkprice40@aol.com