String of pearls

I am dunking a lovely flaky pain au chocolat in my mocha this morning, thinking about how lucky I am, not just for the pastry and chocolate, but for my life in general. I’m enjoying what many would call success: the bounty of my years of professional experience, an amazing spouse (who brought me said pastry), a healthy and mostly joyful family (except perhaps for those testosterone bursts that happen in the back seat when someone gets grumpy); life is good.

In my professional persona, I read glossy (well, what would be glossy if I read the print edition) business journals. One article recentlyconsumed noted that the one trait common to all successful people is gratitude. Yup, that positive outlook that makes you truly grateful for all others have given you. And when you express that sincerely, it makes folks like you and want to do things for you. Voilà, success!

But my weekly CSA provides me with the missing pearls to complete this necklace of wisdom, in the form of the single Xeroxed sheet tucked in my bags between zucchini and lettuce. This week, after letting us know how the tomatoes are doing (always a cliffhanger in the short growing season in the Pacific Northwest), our farmer cogitates on success, clearly spurred by the tone of much rhetoric being spewed this election year. I can’t say it better than her:

 “When encountering the philosophy that maybe we are all responsible for caring for, and about, our 'neighbors,' there are two extremes of thinking. One is 'I came from a poor background, I worked hard to get what I have, I’m not going to give any of it to anyone,' the other is 'I was helped when I really needed it most and I want to give as much back as I can.' … [But] have you ever wondered why you are living where you are, in the time you are, why not born somewhere else in a very different life style. Maybe in a country with very different opportunities? I think we all have wondered about those things—how certain circumstances of physicality or people who were part of our lives have had a huge part in determining our current living conditions.

“The more I ponder on this, and think through my life, I can’t find anything that I can actually say is something I can take credit for. Every single thing I do, how I react, everything I have done, good or bad, is mostly due to circumstances and genetics.

“So maybe that’s the key to humility? Must we grasp that concept in order to be truly free of what I call 'fear' of sharing, giving, responsibility for caring about all other humans?”

Thank you, Claire, for completing this string of pearls: gratefulness, gratitude, humility, freedom.