The Plum
A short reflection, inspired by a poem I love
When you think about the future, how does it make you feel?
Uneasy? Excited? Kind of like you’re standing at the edge of something vast and unknown?
We spend so much time preparing for the unknown, gripping onto any bit of certainty we can find, like it’s the only thing keeping us afloat. But is it really comfort we seek, or just the illusion of control?
What do we actually hold in our hands? We make plans, take steps, chase after what we think is ours... but how much of it was always meant to find us, no matter what?
There's a beautiful concept of Qadr in Islam.
It's the idea that whatever is written for you will reach you, untouched by anything that was never meant to change it.
The plum you’re going to eat next summer
doesn’t exist yet; its potential
lives inside a tree you’ll never see
in an orchard you’ll never see, will be touched
by a certain number of water droplets
before it reaches you, by certain angles
of light, by a finite amount of bugs
and dust motes and hands
you’ll never know. The plum you are
going to eat next summer will gather
sugar, gather mass, will harden
at its center so it can soften toward
your mouth. The plum
you’re going to eat next
summer doesn’t know
you exist. The plum you are
going to eat next summer
is growing just for you.
- Gayle Brandeis
Maybe we need to stop chasing after false notions and just let things be.
What a freeing thought, isn’t it?