PN | Weekly #17: May 31, 2026
“Plant, cultivate, harvest. And that second comma, the one between cultivate and harvest, often represents a loooong period of time.”JEFF OLSON |
Happy Sunday Heroic!
Michael here. π
Hope you had a great week!
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In Chicago, the full bloom of Spring is really opening up into the lushness of early Summer. Without paying attention, it can seem like it happens overnight.
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But, of course, the growth has been months in the making. The Earth often moves at a different cadence than we do, inviting us to look at life differently...
Like a passage from this week's new Philosopher's Note, on Yogananda's How to Be Happy All the Time:
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"The rose plant of our happiness can grow only on the fertile soil of our peace. It can never grow on hard, unfeeling soil or human mentality. We have to dig constantly into peace with the spade of our good actions. We have to keep our happiness plant well watered with our spirit of love and service."
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Brian then quotes Mark Williams:
"Think of meditation as planting seeds. You give young seeds the right conditions, but you don’t try to dig them up each day to see if they’ve grown roots. Meditation is like cultivating a garden: your experience deepens and changes, but this takes place in horticultural time, not clock time.”
Makes me wonder:
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What in my life (or yours, or your team's, or your kids', or your relationship) am I measuring with the wrong clock?
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The presence I'm building with my daughters. The trust forming with new partners. The version of me being slowly shaped by daily practices.
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All of it horticultural.
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None of it on a stopwatch.
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The rose grows when it grows. Our job is to provide the nutrients and conditions it needs.
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Fun: I get the girls bouquets of flowers delivered every couple of weeks. The most recent delivery was full of white roses.
After reading this week’s PN, every vase has become a cue to check in on which clock is best suited to whatever I’m focused on at the moment.
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Clock time? Or horticultural time?
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Wishing you and yours a great week!
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LOVE!
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-Michael
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P.S. Yogananda calls bad habits "happiness thieves." The fastest way to change your life? Stop doing the things you already know are bad for you. Horticultural time is the long game. Vacuuming up the kryptonite dust is today's work.
Enjoy this past week's featured Notes!
Can’t Hurt Me
by David Goggins
by Richard Rohr
On the Shortness of Life
by Seneca
How to Be Happy All the Time
by Yogananda
by Dr. Gabrielle Lyon
by Daniel H. Pink
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