Every moment and every event of every person’s life on earth plants something in her or his soul. For just as the wind carries thousands of winged seeds, so each moment brings with it germs of spiritual vitality that come to rest imperceptibly in the minds and wills of men and women. Most of these unnumbered seeds perish and are lost, for such seeds as these cannot spring up anywhere except in the good soil of freedom, spontaneity and love. — Thomas Merton (1915-1968)
Just as sleep often gives us Big Dreams filled with import, so too do our waking hours give us Big Thoughts. Unfortunately, they disintegrate even before we can tell of them, slipping away into oblivion. However, need not be lost; we must only notice, and acknowledge with an an inner smile, a snap of the finger, a silent aha! to light up a new neuronal path with a dopamine squirt. This is how a seed grows into a tree, a ritual becomes a tradition, an intuition becomes a philosophy.
Such qualia comes to us in endless bounty. Like the tiniest seed, the most fleeting insight or subtle feeling is filled with mighty significance. If we notice but one, and nurture it with the controlled spontaneity of our conscious ritualing, our gardens will be filled with beauty and love. Our neuronal landscapes will come alive with fresh pathways.
This is how new qualia can transform the world.
