Life is a Compost Pile

Compost

“Life is like a compost heap. The rotting debris of everyday trials keep piling up…but if we wait long enough and remain steadfast and strong, even the stinkiest pile will bear good and worthwhile things.”

I could not find the author of this quote, but I can testify to its truth. Any good gardener knows that the two requirements for gardening are good tools and good compost. To this end, I’ve been working on a compost pile for the better part of a year. It serves two worthy purposes: it makes use of all my organic trash, thus reducing the amount of garbage I produce, and it helps to restore the depleted soil in my garden. I will not use it this year because, like yeast in a ball of dough, it needs time to ferment, to heat up and release all its good juju.

There’s a lot of compost in life too. People talk trash, spread negativity, do bad deeds, and engage in devilment. Human beings are sometimes worse than any other animal when it comes to kindness and inclusion. It’s rotten, no doubt about it. But the impact of so much garbage is that, in time, it produces the reverse effect. Instead of exciting people, it turns them off. It rebounds, and creates a deep desire for civility and unity. Then it can be used for good and beneficial growth. I think that’s where much of America is right now. We’re looking for good compost out of the trash heap of the last decade. We’re ready to stop littering our lives with ugliness and start shoveling up some nutrient rich soil.

Compost doesn’t smell very good. There’s not much chance of dressing it up to look like something nice. But if you treat it right, just like life, it will grow into a rich organic garden that will produce almost anything your heart desires.

Keeping it rich,
Jane