In order, For any plant to grow and flourish to its full potential, it needs the right conditions.
The soil is very important. Everything grows on the ground. If the soil is good and you have the right amount of sun and water, everything takes care of itself. Nature runs its own course. We don’t need to interfere. The little acorn becomes the majestic oak.
Would the same oak grow in a desert? Would it bloom in a small pot? What if the soil is sterile and contaminated?
It is no different for human beings. For us to grow and flourish to our full potential then we need the right conditions. In our case, one could think of society as the soil in which we grow. What do I mean when I say “society”? I mean this in the broadest sense possible: our families, our communities, our schools, our friends, our government institutions, our laws, our offices, our work, our recreational spaces, our culture … the world in which we live.
Does our society provide the optimal conditions for human growth and development?
Are each person given the right conditions that will allow him to thrive … to become what he was always naturally inclined to be: an artist, a farmer, a caretaker, an entertainer, a thinker, a writer, a scientist, a mother, teacher, explorer?
Is our society more like a factory farm where only one or two crops are considered valuable? Where rain-forests are cut down to make room for profitable and consumable crops. Where any inclination to be an artist or an explorer or a philosopher is repressed in favor of something more practical … maybe an accountant or a tax advisor or a banker? Not that there’s anything wrong with those professions, if that’s what you love to do. Does society make it easy for a person to discover what their talent is and allow them to cultivate that talent? Is that what the school does or, in a sense, our current educational system does the exact opposite? Do you teach children to question and think for themselves, or do you teach them to memorize facts and conform?
Think back to when you were very young. What did you love to do back? What were you really interested in? Maybe it was so long ago that you have a hard time remembering.
Did you have a natural inclination towards something? Were you one of the lucky ones and always followed this interest throughout your life or did it stop for some reason? Was it suppressed? When did it become very important to “fit in” and please other people? When did you become pragmatic? When did safety become the most important? When did it become the dream to earn a lot of money, own material things and be successful? What is success? Have you ever had the power to follow your real dream or did it always seem unrealistic and unworkable to do so? Have you ever been asked what you really want to do with your life? Have you considered these questions before?
If the conditions were right, if the soil was fertile … what would you become?
