Fertility makes me think of
the harvest season, richness and abundance, the feast. But I don’t think merely
having a good garden (or children!) is what ADF means by the virtue of
fertility. As a third-function virtue, fertility is for everyone. In an ancient
society it is about being productive, helping the community create the
resources it needs. In modernity, I think that fertility is something more.
It’s about cultivating myself, so that in me I have richness to give to the
community so that it may also thrive and grow. In that way, I think fertility
ties into creativity, generosity and self-care.
Creativity: fertility is
about producing something, it is about having something to give to the world,
whether that is through craft or through writing or through ritual, it’s about
the physical things we manifest from our hearts and bring into the world
through our hard work. It’s about not losing the creative side of us that we
had as children, and still having a drive to make and change things.
 |
| Photo by David Yu, via Wikimedia Commons |
Generosity: fertility is
also about having an abundance and sharing that with others, it’s about being
able to have enough to give to someone else without hesitation. This doesn’t
have to be something physical, you can be filled with bountiful generosity and
have next to nothing as far as possessions go, it can be generosity of spirit
and what we can give in care and support to others.
Self-Care: you can’t give
something out of nothing, so I think that self-care is a very important part of
how we achieve this creative and generous state. A field doesn’t stay fertile
unless it’s cared for, it needs to be fertilized and it needs to have fallow
periods. You can tie self-care to moderation, because constant generosity,
constant give without receive will burn you out and leave you unable to be
fertile.
No comments:
Post a Comment