Adventurous Voyage

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Rules of Engagement

Adventurous Voyage


Sometimes when we are on this marvelous voyage we call life, we endure some unpleasant parts of the adventure. These challenges are presented to us in many different ways, and the way we meet difficulty not only reveals our character, but continues to develop it. Problems we encounter call for solutions, but without the problem, would we have sought the solution?

I hope you are involved in some creative act. Every year, I create a garden in my back forty. It’s really only 40 yards, but that’s plenty of garden for anyone. I prepare for the spring in the dark of winter, when I could be easily persuaded no renewal will ever come from the seemingly eternal coldness. In hopes of spring, I plant new things in my little greenhouse every winter. I don’t know why I wanted to have dozens of different plants all growing in that little protected environment, and some of them don’t even make it out into the summer weather. But it is an action indicating a hope for the change spring will bring.

I can point to each year’s project from the greenhouse growing now in the yard. The purple cone flowers look especially great right now, and planting them and nourishing them from seed makes them so much more special in my mind. It’s a physical reminder that no matter how dark the winter, spring and summer will follow.

I sat on the porch last night after the dogs demanded to visit the front yard, not only to do their business, but to investigate who had recently been by. The cat uses this time to make me pet him, and I do even though I am allergic to cat hair, and only have a cat because our daughter volunteered us as foster parents. The cat stays outside, the mice run away, and when Parker comes up and purrs and rubs my leg, it’s easier to pet him than run away. I look at the oak half-barrel I put by the front door. Some people use these as planters with glorious flowers, but for some reason, I like to create my own little world.

These casks used to hold whiskey, and the insides have been charred. Since they held whiskey, I reasoned they should hold water, and when properly soaked, they provide a home to my creation. I really like small water features, so a small pump which was a candle in the bathroom becomes the oxygenator. Water drips from the plastic candles, which recirculates and introduces oxygen onto the water for plants. There are some water iris, miniature cattails and some water lilies. But sitting water breeds mosquitoes, so there are some mosquito fish in there too.

Here is a little world I have created, where the plants, the fish, and even the wasps who like the water depend on me to provide a hospitable environment. I don’t have to feed the fish, but I do need to remember to add water every once in a while, and maybe scoop out some of the excess moss. Even in my deliberately created world, the world outside that little world has its own influence on what I do. Mosquitoes want to interfere; the fish help control them. Moss wants to grow; I have to intervene. The sun beats down and evaporates water; I have to add some.

This same principle applies to our own little world. We all live here, and some of our most important responsibilities may be to help others, to make this world work both for us and others, to sometimes intervene and do what is needed. W.H. Auden once said, “We are all here on earth to help others; what on earth the others are here for I don’t know.”

Maybe our only role is to be available to help others when they need the help. I always feel so much better when I look outside myself and say as Bill Murray eventually did in “Groundhog Day”; “What can I do for you today?”

Especially when our voyage becomes rougher, it is a blessing to have others who can help in some way, even if only to express sympathy. Just think back to when someone took the time to listen, to come to your aid, or to save the day. I hope you have the opportunity to help someone else like this, creating a better world as we all work together to make this a better place for everyone.

In fact, it seems getting outside ourselves to help others is one of the best ways to help us deal with our problems. A wise person once said, “Trade your troubles with whoever you please, and you will want your own back.”

How’s your world? Need some help? Can someone else use yours?