May 2011

In days of old, May 1 signified a major transition.  As the halfway point of the year — directly opposing November 1 — the first day of May marked the date at which, in the northern hemisphere, the earth was no longer frozen solid and was available for planting. While we in Southern California rarely have to deal with an earth that is frozen solid, the symbolism is not lost on me as I reflect upon the times of the year that naturally seem to call forth formulation and those times that call forth a harvesting of the results from that period of formulation.

I realized that May Day could be the perfect occasion, symbolically speaking, to plant some new seeds.  As I entertained that idea, immediately the image of the mighty oak tree and the small seed from which it springs came to mind.  It never ceases to amaze me that the blueprint for an entire oak tree exists within the unassuming little acorn.  I thought of a quote I heard long ago, “Mighty oaks from little acorns grow.”  When I stopped and looked up the quote, I learned that the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations states that the quote is actually a 14th-century proverb.  Apparently the notion of the virtue of small things having big potential has been around for a very long time, indeed.

Just like the fullness of the oak is within the tiny acorn, so must our “seed thoughts” be fully formed in order to produce the ultimate fruits we seek to harvest.  Just like the acorn which has been planted in the cold, dark ground, we can’t allow ourselves to doubt that within us is a great oak waiting to be born — regardless of whether it looks like that is happening at any given moment or not. If we can but trust that everything we need is already within us, that just like the little acorn we will draw to us the elements necessary for our growth, expansion, and ultimate expression in the world, then each one of us will be mighty in the way our blueprints have already charted out for us to be.

Wishing you a wonderful May and beyond.

 

Joel J. Loquvam

Attorney At Law