There is a word that has been floating around in my mind for a while; however, I didn’t know what to do with it because it felt like it might steer to a distracted focus.
Having spent a lifetime with what I call “the dance of focus,” I made a decision to dance with just one when it comes to where I want to play for these glorious decades.
It is, of course, Dip Into the Well. My intention is to give my best time and attention to the myriad metaphorical wells I visualize, experience and discover quite by accident, to go to them on my own and also share them with others.
I am continually filled and refilled with the sometimes-indescribable ways in which they not only sustain me but also lead and send me off with the intention to be my truest self.
I had already written that last sentence before I made a new mug of tea…the tag that says, “Appreciate yourself and honor your soul.” How does it get any better than that!
The potentially distracting word that captivates me as I muse about life is “potpourri.” One definition is “any mixture, especially of unrelated objects, subjects, etc.” Potpourri is also a blending of flowers and spices.
As soon as potpourri comes into my awareness I am instantly and always transported back to my childhood.
My wonderfully eccentric aunt had a covered dish that held her own recipe for her potpourri…flower petals and spices she kept adding to, with thoughtful choices, to maintain the richness of it perfume.
A woman who loved art, poetry, the whole of the environment and so much more, she often invited me to the dish for a moment of relaxing into my senses, relaxing everything.
I know she invited me with purpose, perhaps to slow down a bit and simply be with beauty. She lifted the lid and held it up for me to breathe in the gorgeous scent. It was always, always a moment of loveliness and a moment of full presence to the essence. I have never met a same potpourri since.
This favorite word, which I find mixes beautifully with “sampling,” fits me perfectly. It is such a part of my life. I finally realized that as it pairs with sampling, it also pairs with how I think about the wells.
So to resolve what I initially felt to be a potential distraction, I created and added the Potpourri Well to my vast collectiton. Most of my wells are “the well of….” But that didn’t fit quite right so for the sake of this unique, individualistic well I changed the word order.
The Potpourri Well is one that is completely internal, whereas all the other wells are both internal and external.
What I mean by that is that within me, within each of us, reside so many qualities and resources, whether we acknowledge them, neglect them or forget that we have them.
With all the other wells, such as Wonder, Belonging, Not Knowing, Reimagining, etc., I have the internal storehouse of my life experiences for how to apply them.
I thrive even more as I go outside myself to see what others offer up, which almost always adds exponentially and lets me see what I would have missed had we not gathered together.
In going outside of myself, I learn, for example, from writers, artists, programs and workshops, and from the life stories others share. I collect new perspectives of a word and its quality. All of a sudden, when I blend my own experiences and understanding with those of others, my supply of a particular well becomes exponentially deeper and fuller.
New connections and community come together and we all become part of sharing the uplifting impact of one word.
Potpourri, however, is the well of surprise, the well of the unexpected, the well of an in-the-moment insight or gleaning, a bubbling up of something for which I have no overarching topic. It is a personal catalyst, or personal concierge, bringing me into a gift that is meant only for me.
It is a well that reminds me that my mind, heart and soul can include all kinds of gorgeous moments, revelations, ideas, and experiences that nourish me. It is, indeed, that mixture of unrelated subjects, surprises, thoughts, memories or observations that may only pop in once and completely capture my attention.
It is also a well that is more like a general store, whereas the others resemble specialty shops.
This morning, for example, a phrase popped into my head that made me say out loud, “Whoa! Where did that come from?” Perhaps I could have worked to make it fit one of my already existing wells, but instead, it inspired me to create the quirky new one.
This charming word let me know how it fits beautifully and asked why I ever doubted it would, even as it stands on its own.
It showed me how all the other wells create their own “potpourri.”
Each one, mingled with the others, like flower petals and spices in my aunt’s dish, contributes its own essential essence to my life as I dip in. I drink in the outpouring and am filled.
Welcome, Potpourri Well!
