Category: inspiration

Embrace your Inner Apple Seed (Part 2)

In the first part of this article, I drew some insights from apple seeds and some of the facts presented about them in Michael Pollan’s book, The Botany of Desire. This article expands on that a little more.

Pollan briefly outlines a process called grafting that is used to domesticate apple trees. As explained previously, each apple seed produces an offspring that is unique and varies from the parent plant. So to ensure that a tree produces delicious apples that are to the farmer and his market’s liking, the farmer cuts a piece of wood from the desirable apple tree, creates a groove in the new apple tree and then inserts the wood from the desirable apple tree into it. By using this method, the new tree abandons its individuality and takes on the characteristics of the parent tree.

As people, we undergo a similar process of domestication. We become programmed with ideas and beliefs that are not of our own choosing or design. There are certain stories that get passed on to us from parents, teachers, the media, society and world leaders. These stories may not resonate with who we are. And so we live our lives according other people’s scripts. In the end you become like a domesticated plant confined in an orchard or garden, programmed to be a product of someone’s making. This leaves you little room to grow freely.

Too often, people just accept that this is how their lives are meant to be. But, there is something in us that recalls the joy of growing wildly and freely. This memory comes as a whisper from your soul. It is a gentle nudge to remind you of who you are. The more you heed these whispers, the more you remember that no orchard is suited for the magnificent being that your inner apple seed is meant to be.

You have your own scripts to write. However, part of doing that involves undoing the programming and scripts that don’t serve your life purpose and your highest good. Then a journey of self-discovery begins, as you become acquainted with your true essence, reprogramming new beliefs, ideas and stories that in turn create a new reality. The tree that your apple seed grows into and the fruit it bears are bound to be a unique expression that only you can bring to the world.

Embrace your Inner Apple Seed (Part 1)

A couple of years ago I came across Collen Joy Page’s story of the apple tree which she used as a powerful analogy for connecting with your essential self. Recently, while reading Michael Pollan’s book, The Botany of Desire, I discovered more interesting facts about the characteristics of apples. This sparked some interesting insights on the lessons we can learn from apples.

Michael Pollan’s book investigates the relationship between people and domesticated plants. In the first section of the book, he looks at the introduction of apples into America in the 1700 and 1800s. The book tells a fascinating tale of one of the key role players in the apple industry at the time. My attention was captured by some of the interesting things that he had to say about apple seeds.

The core of each apple contains a set of five little chambers. Each chamber holds one or two seeds in it. Pollan writes that ‘every seed in that apple contains the genetic instructions for a completely new and different apple tree, one that if planted, would bear only the most glancing resemblance to its parents.”

He goes on to say that were it not for techniques such as grafting that are used to manipulate plants, then “every apple in the world would be its own distinct variety, and it would be impossible to keep a good one beyond the life span of that particular tree.”

In scientific terms, the ability of the offspring of a species to do what Michael Pollan is describing is termed heterozyogosity. Human beings function in pretty much the same way. We are a diverse human race and each of us is naturally designed to be a distinctive individual. Not just physically, but also in all levels. Within you there is an inner apple seed just waiting to sprout into the unique spirit that you are destined to be.

Ironically, we are constantly bombarded with messages that tell us the opposite. From a young age, individuality is discouraged. Instead, we are challenged in the direction of social conformity. Society dictates that in order to survive in this world we need to shelve away our true nature and blend in, toe the line, aspire to conventional jobs and do socially acceptable things. Yet doing so almost always translates to living unfulfilled lives. We end up waking up each day wondering who we are and how we got to this place. We end up in jobs that we hate, feeling trapped and merely going through the motions.

This system is clearly not working. Fortunately, more and more people are waking up to the possibility of living differently. So many successful people stress that one of the keys to their accomplishment was making the decision to embrace their individuality. They found the courage to rebel against other people’s expectations and to rebel against the path of conformity. Instead they looked their fears right in the eye and took the road less travelled.

Why not do a little bit of self examination and take the time to connect with YOUR Inner Apple Seed. Ask yourself if the life that you are living is really what you want for yourself? Are you fulfilled? What do you want more of in your life? What does your apple seed need in order to grow into something magnificent and fulfil a purpose that only you can? Listen to the answers that come. Start today. This is the first step to leading a life touched by inspiration.