THE “SILO” EXERCISE FOR DISCOVERING AND REALISING MEANING POTENTIALS AT THIS TIME OF THE YEAR

It’s harvest time. Harvest is a time of gathering the fruit of the land and for storing it safely over the winter months so that there is plenty of nurturing food for the months ahead. We can see farmers diligently gleaning from their fields and bringing the yield to their barns, silos, or storage sheds, where careful planning and foresight ensures the goods remain stored and safe for consumption when they are needed.

However, fall is not only time for harvest. It is also a time for preparing the land for the upcoming year, to make it ready for receiving new seeds. We can observe farmers carefully handle the land and leaving it amenable for planting or seeding.

Some of the seeds and bulbs actually need to be planted in the Fall, so that with the coming of the winter chills, their life cycle becomes full—inside the tiny seed there is careful genetic regulation, which allows the seed to flourish if it went through the winter cold—these are the secrets of farming and landscaping which we can learn from, fall is not only for gathering the harvest, it is also a time or preparation for seeding, and planting—It is a time for gathering, and a time for giving.

Following nature’s path, fall is the time for gathering, and seeding--recollecting, and preparing. It is a busy time, during which we are existentially reminded of a transition that takes place in our lives, from warm temperatures, and long days, to now adjusting to less sunshine, shorter days, the changing colours of the season…

Let’s take a walk and soak in the bounty of nature’s glories at this time of the year—let’s take a walk in our lives and reflect on our journey. What do we see? What can we gather, and what can we store…what can we use to give, and nurture?

First, let’s review some points that are going to guide our self-awareness. At this point we concentrate on our lives…How has the past year been? Calling to mind our decisions, and actions, what did we plant, what resolutions did we make? Did we manage to keep them? Or did we perhaps had to modify them? At this point we call to mind our uniqueness. Everybody’s life is different. Our talents, our strengths, our abilities. In addition, we are confronted with unique life situations. What were these during the past year? Recalling our individuality, we see that we had unique paths, we had some order, and maybe, at times events which made us go not exactly in a straight furrow. This is also pas of our self-awareness, in the form of uniqueness, irreplaceability, and leaving our footsteps in the world, that now we can recall.

We can reflect on the “silo” of our lives, and ask ourselves, what do we choose to store in it, which actions, decisions, work, experiences, or even attitudes, events or instances of faith, spirituality, and hope. These become resources for our future.

The next step would be to distance ourselves from our immediate circumstances, and from ourselves, and to see which events, and who (which individuals, families, or groups) we came into contact with during the past year. Who were the people that required, asked for, or received our help. Do they still need us? Where are we in this regard “answer to their prayers/” Where are we irreplaceable, in a position to help, in a place to reach out to?

Drawing back to our “silo” where we have stored our “treasures” our resources, we can sort those “seeds” that we choose to become part of our giving: giving out, sharing, reaching out, giving away. Existentially, this part of the journey is called part self-distancing, followed by self-transcendence. We think of others, we give to others, we share with others, we plant new seed. Paradoxically, whatever we give, in the form of love, caring, self-transcendent, kind actions, teaches us about ourselves, and molds us into our way of being—it actually is not lost, but like the seed in the ground, must undergo exposure to cold, to elements, to external circumstances, to become able to fulfill its potential—to be life giving and nurturing.

So, as we reflect on our existential journey this fall, and we examine the contents of our “silo” we gather in what is valuable, worthwhile, and good, and separate it from weeds, from chaff, and from dust, and pollution, that does not belong there. We examine the ways we want to mend, the fence posts, the furrows, the equipment we have, and we examine ways in which those need to be taken care of, looked after, and nurtured-in other words, what are our needs in this season. Which are those ways we want to keep in our journey, and paths we want to improve, or abandon?

Likewise, which are our strengths and resources, which are those un-erasable and time tested goods we have gathered and can now safely deposit in our storage, where we can use it for future tasks, and the journey ahead.

The “silo” reminds us that we all have a storage, where our treasures and resources are safely kept. These are the resources we take for our journey for the nourishment of ourselves, and, wisely, of those who are around us.