A spiritual compost pile

I’ve been doing a lot of cooking lately, which means I’ve been doing a lot of thinking.

So when I sat down to write a fun, pithy, light piece for the end of 2013, I was distracted by thoughts from the kitchen, especially about composting. I’ve become obsessed with that — maybe it has something to do with spending so much time lately at farmers’ markets.

I’ve been thinking about what composting really is — taking what is normally considered a waste product, and by tending this pile of waste, creating gold for your garden — a great metaphor for life.

Each challenge we face in life often brings up feelings of fear, pain, anguish, loss, anger, and so on. When we experience these feelings we must somehow find a way to move passed them — to learn the lessons necessary and continue forward. These leftover emotions are a waste product from the experience. When we don’t find a way to learn from these experiences, we allow these emotions to fester and linger in our lives, like old smelly garbage, assured to repeat these experiences until we learn the lessons. When we take these emotions and truly learn what this experience has to teach us, we take this waste product and use it to feed growth in our life.

I am a vegetarian. My dietary choices create a lot of organic waste — rinds, peels, leaves and so forth. All of this comes from the earth, and by composting, we take the parts we didn’t find use for and give it back to the earth to grow something new.

I am a human. My mind and heart create a lot of extra emotions — fear, guilt, anger and so forth. All of these come from within, and by composting our spirit, we take the parts we no longer find useful or healthy and give it back to our spirit to grow something new.

There are many parts to composting. You collect the waste products in a receptacle — a pile or bin. Then you turn them over daily, like stirring your pot of soup. The other important element isn’t anything you can do, but comes only with time, receiving help externally in the form of worms, insects, microorganisms and such. When we do this for our spirit, we use different tools like journaling, exercise, meditation and love to break down our waste material, allowing these “worms” of care to create incredible shifts in understanding.

Whether you literally create the rich compost to feed the soil and grow your plants, or you use the metaphorical approach, taking the time to appreciate your life for the rich (and sometimes messy) experiences that created it, you’ll find yourself rewarded with fertile stuff you can use to grow something beautiful.

Composting takes patience and dedication. Although a lot of the work is done by the worms — they eat their own weight in organic material every day — you must tend pile daily, watching the balance of heat, air and moisture for the best results.

Spiritual composting is the same. You must have patience with yourself and dedicate yourself to the understanding that you are important enough to do the work. You must dedicate yourself to tending your spirit, giving yourself the proper love, care and support necessary.

Now, as we look at the last year and look toward the new one, how will we use the challenges we faced? Will we look for the lessons and create growth? Or will we wallow in our leftover emotions, with the assurance of repeating them?